Russia, Latin America discuss barter supplies of fertilizer, no one ready to pay in national currencies - PhosAgro

ST. PETERSBURG. June 17 (Interfax) - Russia is discussing barter supplies of mineral fertilizers with Latin American countries, as no one is prepared to pay in national currencies, the head of marketing and development at PhosAgro , Filipp Sterkin said at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

"At this point, frankly, no one is really ready," he said when asked about the prospects of settlements for fertilizer in national currencies.

"We're talking to corporate consumers who grow soybean in Brazil. Barter supplies are possible, joint return charter is possible. This is probably a matter of the near future," Sterkin said.

He said there are currently a number of problems with exports of Russian fertilizers. "The first problem is charters. There is currently a very limited number of shippers prepared to enter Russian ports and ship fertilizer around the whole world. The main shippers today are Greece and Turkey. Charter prices have doubled," Sterkin said.

"Then it's the same thing with insurance companies. They refuse to insure, make a bunch of demands. And the next stage is payments. Even if the buyer paid for the good, it doesn't mean the money arrived," Sterkin said.

He said Russia exports 10 million tonnes of fertilizer to Brazil annually, with PhosAgro accounting for 1.6 million tonnes of this.