Russian President Vladimir Putin said today that Moscow should closely monitor its food exports to “enemy countries” because Western sanctions have triggered a global food crisis and rising energy prices.
Western sanctions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24, have left Russia facing the worst economic crisis since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, although Moscow has argued that the global impact of sanctions could be most important.
The Kremlin strongman has warned that high energy prices combined with a shortage of fertilizers will force the West to print money to buy supplies, leading to food shortages in poorer countries.
“Inevitably they will cause food shortages in the poorest parts of the world, new waves of migrants and generally push food prices even higher,” Putin told a meeting on food production development.
“In the current context, the shortage of fertilizers on the world market is inevitable,” Putin said, adding: hostile to us ”
One of Putin’s allies warned last week that Russia could restrict agricultural exports to “friendly countries” only amid Western sanctions against Moscow.
Russia is the largest exporter of cereals in the world (supplying mainly Africa and the Middle East), as well as one of the largest producers of potash, phosphorus and nitrogen fertilizers – which are widely used in crops.
Russia produces more than 50 million tons of fertilizers a year, which accounts for 13% of world production. Phosagro, Uralchem, Uralkali, Acron and Eurochem are among the leading companies in the industry.
Sanctions, Putin said, have disrupted the fertilizer supply chain from Russia and Belarus, and rising gas prices have made fertilizer production more expensive in the West.
Putin warned European countries that Moscow would react to any attempt to nationalize Russian assets, commenting that such an action would prove to be a “double-edged sword”.
Putin’s remarks came a day after Germany announced that the country’s Energy Regulatory Authority would take control of Gazprom Germania – a company that trades, stores and transports gas – in which Russia’s Gazprom closed its stake on Friday.
The British government may decide to intervene and temporarily manage the subsidiary of the Russian giant Gazprom in the United Kingdom.
Putin has claimed that Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine was necessary because the United States was using Kyiv to threaten Moscow, which was forced to defend Russian-speaking people being persecuted in Ukraine.
Ukraine has denied Putin’s allegations of persecution and said Russia had launched an unprovoked military offensive against it.
SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ
Source: Capital
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