15 Aug 2022 17:31

Russia, Vietnam working to remove obstacles in grain trade - Agroexport

MOSCOW. Aug 15 (Interfax) - Russia and Vietnam are working to eliminate obstacles in grain trading, the Russian Agriculture Ministry's Agroexport center said in a statement after a business mission of Russian exporting companies to Vietnam.

The mission included a roundtable devoted to the development of trade in Russian grain and oil products. Russian Deputy Agriculture Minister Sergey Levin said at the round table that Russia is expected to export up to 50 million tonnes of grain this season, which will be one of the highest indicators in history. Vietnam, for its part, buys a significant amount of grain: the country imported more than 10 million tonnes of corn and 4.3 million tonnes of wheat, according to 2021 data. A few years ago, Russia was the leading supplier of wheat to the Vietnamese market, but over the past two years, supplies have dropped significantly, Levin said.

According to the statement, since 2019, the main obstacle to development of Russian exports is the detection in Russian wheat of objects subject to quarantine in Vietnam - namely field thistle (thistle), head of the Union of Grain Exporters Eduard Zernin said.

According to Le Son Ha, director of the Phytosanitary Control Department of the Department of Plant Protection of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam, Vietnam considers field thistle a dangerous weed for the phytosanitary well-being of its own agriculture. Nevertheless, the country is committed to alleviating this problem on mutually acceptable terms.

At the moment, a list of Russian companies that can supply processed grain to Vietnam has already been determined, said Artem Daushev, assistant to the head of Rosselkhoznadzor. From the Vietnamese side the list of processing companies that guarantee the non-proliferation of quarantine products has also been determined. There is a request from Vietnamese business to import Russian wheat and supplies could be intensified under such conditions, Daushev said.

Vietnamese grain buyers confirmed their interest in Russian products and expressed hope that phytosanitary issues would be resolved as soon as possible. Vietnam also has a need for corn. Furthermore, Vietnamese companies are looking for opportunities to purchase finished products.

Logistical and financial issues were also discussed during the round table. Participants of the meeting pointed out that there are no significant problems with settlements under bilateral contracts. In addition, Vietnamese logistics companies expressed their willingness to support payments and build new supply chains between Russia and Vietnam.