First ships with free Russian grain sent to Africa - Putin
MOSCOW. Nov 22 (Interfax) - Russia is complying with all of its commitments in global food security, and the first ships with free grain left for Africa on Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"Russia is meeting all of its commitments in this area [food and energy security] and remains one of the largest food exporters, and today - I want to inform you - the first ships with free Russian grain have been sent to Africa, to the needy countries," Putin said at the virtual G20 summit.
"There is growing turbulence on the markets, and chronic problems in the international financial sector, energy and food security are aggravating," Putin said.
The first two ships carrying 25,000 tonnes each to Somalia and Burkina Faso have already left Russian ports, Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said at the end of last week. The ships are expected to arrive at their destinations in late November or early December.
The ships bound for the Central African Republic, Zimbabwe, Mali and Eritrea will be loaded with wheat in the near future and sent to these countries by the end of the year.
The supplies will total up to 200,000 tonnes by the yearend.
As reported, Putin said at the Russia-Africa forum in July that Russia intends to supply 25,000 to 50,000 tonnes of grain to a number of African countries free of charge in the following months. These are supplies to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic, and Eritrea. The grain is also to be shipped free of charge.
The commercial supplies of Russian wheat to Africa are also continuing. This export destination has become one of the priorities for grain traders. Libya purchased 1.365 million tonnes of wheat in the 2022/2023 agricultural year (ended on June 30, 2023), Mauritania 129,000 tonnes, Liberia 127,000 tonnes, which are record highs for these countries, the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies said. The supplies are actively continuing in the current agricultural year (started on July 1, 2023).