Senior UN officials and Russia’s deputy foreign minister on Friday discussed obstacles to Russia’s fertilizer and grain exports, just before a crucial deal to deal with the food crisis expires.
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A first shipment of fertilizers could be sent to Malawi next week, according to a statement released by the UN following the meeting between the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Rebeca Grynspan, the head of the UN Organization for humanitarian aid, was published agency, Martin Griffiths, and Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin.
“The world cannot afford for global fertilizer accessibility problems to become a global food shortage, which is why the UN is calling on all actors to speed up the removal of all remaining barriers to fertilizer export and trade to the countries they are on urgently need. ‘ the press release recalled.
The negotiators met for several hours at the Palais des Nations, the UN headquarters in Geneva, but made no statement after the meeting.
The principle of Russian exports of fertilizers and foodstuffs was adopted in Turkey on July 22 at the same time as the agreement on Ukrainian grain exports, which expires on November 19.
The established multi-party control mechanism has since made it possible to export 10.2 million tons of grain and food from Ukraine, lowering prices on the world market and supplying certain countries in urgent need of food for the starving population.
On the other hand, the section on Russian exports has remained more or less dead letter, to the great displeasure of Moscow, which uses double standards in it.
The two senior UN officials – very involved in these delicate negotiations – “informed about the initiatives taken to facilitate payments, insurance and access to European Union ports for grain and fertilizers,” underlines the press release.
While the economic sanctions that have hit Russia since its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine have spared fertilizers and crops, fears of accidentally crossing a red line and finding yourself on the wrong side of the law are crippling transport companies and blowing them up insurance premiums.
“The UN also provided information on recently issued general licences, targets of fertilizer shipments to developing countries and its continued engagement with the private sector and member states,” the statement said.
A few days before the deadline, Russia has not yet indicated whether it will extend the July 22 deal on Ukrainian exports, which the international community sees as crucial to solving a serious food crisis.
The prospect of a non-renewal of the Ukrainian part of the July 22 accords is worrying.
“The situation could be really complicated and the impact could be very serious,” warned Boubaker Ben-Belhassen, director of FAO, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, at a briefing in Geneva on Friday.
“In the short term, prices would certainly rise, especially for wheat, corn and sunflower oil,” he said.
“The United Nations remains committed to addressing the crisis in the global fertilizer market, where farmers, particularly small farmers in developing countries, are being locked out of production due to high fertilizer costs,” the statement promises.