Russia plans to send 200,000 tons of wheat to Africa by year’s end

Russia is mulling plans to dispatch 200,000 tons of wheat free of charge to countries in need on the African continent by the end of the year, the Russian Ambassador to Turkey Alexey Yerkhov told Turkish daily Sabah.

“Russia proposed an initiative to deliver wheat free of charge to the poorest African countries. We expect 200,000 tons of grain to be sent by the end of the year. Two ships already departed to Somalia and Burkina Faso. Additional shipments to Eritrea, Zimbabwe, Mali, and the Central African Republic are expected to follow soon,” Yerkhov said.

The shipment to Burkina Faso and Somalia left early this month.

The Russian diplomat argued that “despite the efforts of the UN, there are still no results on the revival of the grain deal.” The deal came to an end on July 18 and Russia refused to be signatory over unfulfilled components related to facilitating Russian grain and fertilizer exports, a significant portion of the supplies redirected to affluent European States instead of African nations.

Following the refusal, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Moscow’s intent to deliver grain to six African countries as part of humanitarian aid.