During a government meeting, the Russian president warned Western countries about a sharp rise in world food prices.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that sanctions imposed over the conflict in Ukraine could drive up global food prices as Russia can no longer export enough fertilizer.
“If this continues, it will have serious consequences (…) for the food sector as a whole, an increase in inflation will be inevitable,” he said at a government meeting, and the export of Russian fertilizers will be suspended.
Western sanctions by themselves do not affect Russian fertilizers. On the other hand, the finance and supply chain sectors are affected, affecting Russia’s ability to export.
There will be more Russian fertilizers
“If we continue to create problems for us with the financing of this work, its provision, logistics, delivery of our products (…), then prices will always rise more, and this will be felt on the price of final products, food products,” the President of Russia noted. .
Russia, like its heavily sanctioned neighbor Belarus, are major global suppliers of mineral fertilizers, supplying both Europe and South America.
Following the announcement of massive sanctions against Russia and its economy in response to the conflict in Ukraine, the Russian Ministry of Industry last week recommended that Russian fertilizer producers temporarily suspend exports.
Among other consequences, the sanctions prevent some of Russia’s largest banks from operating internationally. Economic retaliation measures taken by Western countries against Russia led to a spectacular depreciation of the ruble.
