Speaking on July 27 at the opening of the Russia-Africa Forum, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia would be providing grain to Africa, free of charge in the case of the poorest countries, and would work to assist them in developing their own capabilities in the field of agriculture and energy. He spoke of the problems created by the Western sanctions, which have endangered world food supply, including the restrictions on facilitating the supply of wheat (Russia is number one in this field) as well as fertilizers. “Of the 262,200 tons of such fertilizers blocked in European ports, only two shipments were sent: a total of 20 tons to Malawi and 34 tons to Kenya,” Putin said. “The rest remained in the hands of the Europeans.”
He said that Russia would be prepared, within the next two-three months, to provide 25-50,000 tons of grain free of charge to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Mali, the Central African Republic, and Eritrea. In addition Russia is working on developing the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC), which would bring products to the ports of the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean for further shipment by sea, including transport to Africa. Putin said that Russia would also increase its export of agricultural technology to aid Africa in increasing its own food production.
