Belarus hopes to be relieved of sanctions on its potassium industry soon - ambassador

MINSK. Sept 15 (Interfax) - The sanctions imposed on Belarusian potash fertilizers jeopardize the food security of regions and even continents, and should be lifted as soon as possible, Belarusian Ambassador to Russia Dmitry Krutoi said.

"The Belarusian side maintains constant contact with Russia, UN agencies, and is hoping for the swift lifting of the sanctions on Belarusian potassium and restoration of its unhindered transit to world markets," Krutoi was quoted on the embassy's website as saying at a roundtable, entitled "The Ukrainian crisis: the role of the humanitarian and intermediary initiatives of neutral actors," organized by the Russian Foreign Ministry's Diplomatic Academy in Moscow on Friday.

"At various platforms, [Belarus] has repeatedly drawn attention to the illegal Western sanctions against Belarus's potassium industry, which have extremely negative consequences for the global food market," he said, recalling that Belaruskali is the world's second biggest potassium producer.

"Before the illegal termination of Belarusian fertilizer transit through the Baltic states, which violates, among other things, the legal rights of a landlocked country, Belarus accounted for 22.5% of the global trade in potash fertilizers," Krutoi said.

The reduction of Belarusian exports led to a contraction of the world potassium market in 2022 by 16%, or six million tonnes compared to 2021, he said.

"The illegal and completely absurd actions of Lithuania and Poland undermine the food security of not just individual countries but whole regions and continents. By our estimate, based on data from the UN WFP [World Food Program], Belarus's almost total disappearance from the list of potassium suppliers in 2022 lead to a 17% drop in grain production in Africa, and this year exports to Africa were completely paralyzed because of Lithuania's actions," Krutoi said.