The growing costs of seagoing freight to carry goods, costs of international financial settlements have resulted in the halving of profitability for grain exports
Russia will resume its participation in the grain deal on the condition that all principles of Russia’s involvement are acted on, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the meeting with Government members. The transcript of the meeting is published on the website of the Kremlin.
The President mentioned lifting the sanctions on supplying Russian grain and fertilisers to world markets, resolving of all issues relating to ship chartering and insurance of Russian food export deliveries, creation of conditions that do not hinder the growth of supplies of Russian fertilisers and the raw materials for their production, such as resuming the operation of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline, release of Russian assets related to the agricultural sector.
“All obstacles put in the way of Russian banks, financial institutions which service food and fertiliser supplies must be removed, including their immediate reconnection to SWIFT. We do not need promises or ideas regarding this; we want this condition to be met,” said the President.
Vladimir Putin reminded that over the course of almost a year 32.8 million tonnes of grain were exported from Ukraine in total under this deal, 70 percent of which arrived in rich countries, above all countries of the European Union, while such countries as Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan, and Yemen – the poorest ones – received less than three percent of the total volume, or less than one million tonnes.
“In addition to this, the growing costs of seagoing freight to carry goods, costs of international financial settlements and other transactions have resulted in the halving of profitability for grain exports. Our fertiliser producers have also faced a similar problem: their losses are about $1.6 billion. For example, the cost of imported spare parts for their equipment and equipment in general increased by 40 percent, and costs for financial transactions grew by about 10 percent,” said Vladimir Putin.