Date: Friday, 17 November 2023
Ivan Studenov (CC BY-SA 4.0)MOSCOW. Nov 17 (Interfax) - Russia is beginning free-of-charge grain supplies to African countries, and the first vessels are scheduled to arrive at the destination ports at the end of November-beginning of December, Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev told reporters while visiting the Agriculture Ministry's "Eat your own products!" exhibition at the international exhibition and forum "Russia".
"The government has taken all the necessary decisions to implement and deliver supplies. The first two ships, with 25,000 tonnes each, have already departed Russian ports for Somalia and Burkina Faso. We expect them to arrive at their destinations in late November-early December this year," Patrushev said.
Overall supplies will total up to 200,000 tonnes by the end of the year.
Patrushev said that ships to the Central African Republic, Zimbabwe, Mali, and Eritrea would be loaded with wheat in the near term and sent to the respective countries by the end of this year.
As reported, President Vladimir Putin in July at the Russia-Africa forum said that Russia was ready to supply from 25,000 tonnes to 50,000 tonnes of grain free-of-charge to a number of African countries in the coming months, specifically to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic, and Eritrea. Grain delivery will also be free-of-charge.
