Russia and Turkey have struck a new “grain deal”, with Moscow receiving a payment guarantee for the delivery of 1 million tonnes of grain from a third party, Qatar
The sale of such a volume of grain will not change prices on the global food market, but will show the world that the problems of starving people in poor countries can be solved without Ukraine’s participation, experts told aif.ru.
Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Alexander Grushko made a statement on reaching an agreement between Russia and Turkey on grain supplies in the evening of 6 September. He noted that the parties still have several issues to consider. “These are logistics, finances and much more, routes, destination countries,” Grushko said.
Supplying 1 million tonnes of grain to countries in need will not change the situation on the world market, but it can provide significant help to those countries where the population is facing the threat of famine, independent agricultural market expert Alexander Korbut told aif.ru.
“The potential volume of our exports this year for wheat alone is about 50 million tonnes, and this is not all the grain we can export. It is clear that against this background 1 million tonnes of grain is a small volume for Russia. But for some countries it can be a very significant figure, especially where people face the problem of hunger,” the expert said.
The new grain agreement will not change wheat prices on the world market, Alexander Korbut noted.
The new “grain deal” between Turkey and Russia, although small in terms of the volume of grain supplied, has two important details, Boris Rozhin, an expert at the Centre for Military and Political Journalism, pointed out.
“The new grain deal is concluded by Russia and Turkey without Ukraine. And the Qataris will provide financial guarantees, so there should be no problems with payment for Russian grain. For those who wonder whether 1 million tonnes of grain is a lot or a little, I remind you that Russia will produce 154 million tonnes of grain in 2022,” Rozhin wrote in his Telegram channel.
The fact that Russia had earlier refused Turkey’s request to renew its participation in last year’s grain deal on the same terms became known following talks between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Recep Erdogan in Sochi on 4 September. Putin said at the time that Russia was ready to immediately unfreeze the agreement if the West fulfils its commitments, but Moscow has long been under no illusions about this.
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