Russia will provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic, and Eritrea with 25-50k tonnes of grain free of charge amid the termination of the grain deal, Vladimir Putin said during the Russia-Africa forum.
“In the next three months, we’ll be ready to provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somali, the Central African Republic, and Eritrea with 25-50k tonnes of grain free of charge, and we’ll cover the transportation costs as well,” he said.
Putin claims a total of 32.8 million tonnes of cargo was exported from Ukraine within a year of the grain deal, of which over 70% were shipped to “wealthy countries, mainly the European Union”. Only 3% of all the export volume was exported to countries like Ethiopia, Sudan, or Somalia, the Russian president claims.
Putin says Russia is capable of replacing Ukrainian grain “both commercially and free of charge for the African countries in need”.
Putin at the Russia-Africa forum. Photo: kremlin.ru
Putin also commented on the reasons behind Russia’s withdrawal from the grain deal: “None of the conditions of the deal regarding the exclusion of Russian exports of grain and fertilisers from sanctions were fulfilled. Well, someone does not want Russia, as some say, to get rich, to spend money on military purposes. But this was a gratuitous transfer [of fertilisers]. They did not allow the exports despite all the empty talk about helping the poorest countries. We took that into account and refused to extend this deal,” he said.
In addition, Putin says Russia is going to open branches of its leading universities in Africa. The Russian president also stated that opening schools in Africa with subjects taught in Russian is possible. Teaching the Russian language and introducing Russian educational standards in Africa will lay the foundation for further cooperation, he says.
Photo: Dmitry Sytyi of Russia House in Central African Republic
Dmitry Sytyi of the Russia House cultural centre in the Central African Republic has posted a photo of Yevgeny Prigozhin at the Russia-Africa forum. It is the only post on Sytyi’s Facebook page.
The Russia-Africa forum is taking place in Saint Petersburg. It is attended by Vladimir Putin, Chairman of the African Union and President of the Comoros Azali Assoumani, Benedict Orama, the Chairman the African Export-Import Bank, President of the New Development Bank Dilma Rousseff, and Patriarch Kirill.
