Russian fertilizer company Uralchem has donated 30,000 metric tons of potash to Bangladesh as a humanitarian gesture through the UN World Food Program. This donation marks Uralchem’s seventh such contribution since 2022, with the company having donated over 220,000 tons of mineral fertilizers to nations facing acute hunger.
The shipment, which included fertilizers previously stored in Latvia, underscores the ongoing challenges with Russian fertilizer exports due to European sanctions. The Uralchem CEO emphasized the importance of mineral fertilizers in boosting crop yields and ensuring a stable food supply, particularly for Bangladesh, a densely populated country facing significant challenges in its food system.
Uralchem’s donations have been carried out through vessels chartered by the WFP from EU ports and warehouses, with previous shipments going to countries such as Malawi, Kenya, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Sri Lanka, and now Bangladesh. The fertilizers shipped to Dhaka were previously ‘stored in Latvia,’ the company noted in its statement.
Russian officials have noted that over 400,000 metric tons of Russian fertilizers remained held up in several European ports, including in Latvia and Estonia, since 2022, when Western countries adopted unprecedented sanctions against Moscow. The goods were being released under the Russia-UN Memorandum on normalizing agricultural exports signed in Istanbul in July 2022 under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which collapsed in 2023 after Moscow accused Western powers of failing to uphold their side of the agreement, particularly on Russian fertilizer and food exports.
Latvia’s foreign ministry stated that the EU member continues providing assistance to countries suffering from the food crisis caused by the Russian war against Ukraine.