Russian Grain to Africa. For Free.

The West sabotaged the implementation of the part of the agreement concerning the interests of Russia for the Ukrainian grain of the Black Sea, which also prevented the transfer of Russian chemical fertilizers to African countries for free. This was stated by the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, in his opening speech at the Russia-Africa summit taking place these days in St. Petersburg.

According to Putin, “Russia has decided to participate in the agreement, with the hope that it will lift the bans blocking Russian exports of grain and fertilizers. But this part of the deal was never implemented.” Of the 260 thousand tons of Russian chemical fertilizers stuck in European ports, Moscow recently managed to send only “two small shipments” to Malawi and Kenya.

The Russian president once again guaranteed that Moscow would be able to supply grain “without demanding a single ruble” from the poorest African countries. “The record harvests of recent years allow us to do this with no problem,” emphasized Putin, according to whom “in the next four months, Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Somalia, and Eritrea will be the first to receive free of charge from 25,000 to 50,000 tons of Russian wheat and corn.” The grain harvest in Russia in 2022 amounted to more than 153 million tons, and forecasts for 2023 speak of another 130 million tons. “Russia is also capable of replacing Ukrainian sales on global markets with its grains,” the Kremlin leader added..