Oleg Ozerov, the ambassador at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation and head of the Russia Africa Partnership Forum secretariat, spoke in an interview with Newsweek about Russia being prepared to fully replace Ukrainian grain on the global market.
He stressed that despite objections from European regulators, Russia intends to meet its international commitments on the export of agricultural products, fertilizers, energy resources and other essential goods with responsibility and care.
He noted that with a record harvest of 152.2 million tons in 2022, Russia is ready to offer free shipments of grain amounting to 500 thousand tons to the most needy countries and to replace Ukrainian grain, which currently represents a small share of the market. The diplomat indicated a plan to offer a percentage of world production to all interested nations at affordable prices.
Earlier reports indicated that in June and July of this year more than 30 countries had removed Ukrainian grain buyers from their lists. This assessment is based on data from the UN Comtrade platform as reported by Ria Novosti.
On July 22 in Istanbul, officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations signed agreements aimed at easing export restrictions on Russian products and aiding Ukrainian grain exports. The accord covers the export of Ukrainian grain, food and fertilizer via the Black Sea route from three ports, including Odessa.