Facts & Figures: Russia Explains Why It Left Grain Deal
14:41 07.09.2023 (Updated: 15:17 07.09.2023)
© Sputnik / Vitaly Timkiv
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The Russian Foreign Ministry explains the issues of the food deal and the supply of grain and fertilizers, inviting the world to have a look at the situation with food security after the termination of the grain deal with facts and figures in hand.
To remind: Russia has left the Blask Sea Grain Initiative, also known as the grain deal, in July citing the West and Ukraine's failure to abide by their commitments outlined in the agreement.
Back then, Russian President Vladimir Putin blasted Western nations for abusing the deal to serve their own selfish interests instead of implementing the humanitarian purpose of the grain deal.
And Gennady Gatilov, Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, has said that the deal has “turned into a commercial project for the benefit of wealthy countries and Ukraine."
How Grain Deal Became Commercial Project for Ukraine & West
On Thursday, Moscow has published a list of reasons behind its decision to ditch the deal, backed by facts and figures.
1.
The grain deal did not help the poorest countries tackle hunger. Out of 32.8 million tonnes of food, just a trifle - less than 3 percent - were sent to the countries in need. 2.
After the deal came to an end, grain prices continued to fall. In August, they fell by 4-5 percent. 3.
The grain exported as part of the deal mainly went toward enriching Ukrainian animal feed producers. It was primarily intended for livestock and was shipped to Europe rather than Africa. 4.
Ukraine is no longer the world's 'breadbasket'. The country's share of global grain exports is only 5 percent and continues to shrink. 5.
Ukraine's arable land is shrinking as well, partly due to contamination with radiation and toxins from depleted uranium munitions that Kiev has been using since the spring. 6.
Europe is not helping Ukraine export grain. Since May, there has been a ban on grain shipments to EU countries bordering on Ukraine. This situation is likely to continue into the winter.How West Refused to Fulfill Commitments Under Grain Deal
The UN Secretariat and the West did not want and do not want to fulfill their obligations to Russia as part of the grain deal, the Russian foreign ministry believes.
For the deal to fullfill its major purpose it is necessary to connect Rosselkhozbank to SWIFT. Instead, there have been only endless discussions about te intermediary mechanisms through subsidiaries and partner banks, wuth no guarantees of implementation provided. And the accounts of Rosselkhozbank are being closed altogether.
The issue of the insurance of Russian ships still persists. Russia has only received empty promises. A special mechanism-platform for insurance has not been created.
The unlocking of assets is supposed to be discussed only after the humiliating procedure for companies to recognize their“sanctioned status.” Again, wuthout any guarantees.
The UN has been silent on the restoration of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline, which could provide tens of millions of people with fertilizers.
Russia did invite the UN for talks — but Rebeca Greenspan, who is a UN person-in-charge of the grain deal, is unwilling to come to Moscow, or even provide reports on her work.
How Russia Manages to Tackle World Hunger
Moscow has explained how Russia has been succesfull in tackling global food crisis with the help of no "deals".
Firstly, Russia has already supplied or will soon supply:
20,000 tons of fertilizer in Malawi;
34,000 tons of fertilizers to Kenya; - 23,000 tons of fertilizer in Zimbabwe;
34,000 tons of fertilizers to Nigeria;
55,000 tons of fertilizers to Sri Lanka;
200,000 tons of wheat to Somalia, CAR, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali and Eritrea.
Secondly, jointly with Turkiye and Qatar, Russia is working to deliver
Together with Ankara and Doha, a project is being worked out to deliver 1 million tons of grain to Turkiye, where it will be further processed and supplied free of charge to the poorest countries.
It turns out that while Europe was buying animal feed grain from Ukraine along the Black Sea for its own needs as part of the grain deal, they, in fact, were trying to block Russian agriculture and create loss-making conditions for it. And the UN failed to resolve the issue.
