MOSCOW, Nov 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said that the country began transporting 200,000 tons of grain to 6 African countries in the form of humanitarian aid, as committed by President Vladimir Putin last month.
In an announcement on the Telegram website, Patrushev said that the first two grain ships, each carrying 25,000 tons of grain, have left Russian ports for Burkina Faso and Somalia. It is expected that these two ships will dock in African countries at the end of this month or early next month.
The next grain shipments will depart for Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Mali and the Central African Republic before the end of the year.
Last July, at the plenary session of the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Aid Forum, Putin announced that Russia was ready to provide humanitarian aid with grain to the most needy countries in Africa.
A month later, he said negotiations on providing 25,000 – 50,000 tons of free Russian grain to six African countries – Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic and Eritrea – were in progress.
Last year, Russia exported 11.5 million tons of grain to Africa and in the first 6 months of this year it reached nearly 10 million tons.
Russia pledged humanitarian grain aid to Africa after it withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative – an agreement that allowed Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea amid conflict. Since Russia withdrew from the deal, Ukrainian grain exports through Black Sea ports have been disrupted.
Last August, Ukraine established a “humanitarian corridor” along the western Black Sea coast, near Romania and Bulgaria, to clear the way for cargo ships stuck in the country’s ports. Ukraine’s data released on November 17 showed that the country’s export of goods through the new corridor reached 4.4 million tons, including 3.2 million tons of grain. — NNN-AGENCIES
