Russia has denounced the “hypocrisy” of the Europeans in the face of the agreement allowing poor and developing countries to be relieved of the grain crisis. While a maritime corridor has been opened to avoid a major humanitarian crisis and the risk of famine in Africa, it is ultimately the European countries and Turkey that benefit from it, denounced the Russian President, Vladimir Putin who lingered on European countries.
Vladimir Putin, who spoke at a conference, said the bulk of Ukrainian grain exports that were blocked before a Turkey-sponsored deal were going to Europe at the expense of poor countries.
The agreement concluded under the sponsorship of the UN and Turkey, which manages the flow in the Black Sea, precisely in the Bosphorus, was to make it possible to release Ukrainian and Russian cereals, especially wheat, to avoid a food crisis in dependent countries. of this essential commodity.
The countries concerned are African countries, in particular North African countries, where bread consumption is high and is part of the eating habits of the inhabitants of the region. The current president of the African Union Macky Sall, had personally traveled to Russia to ask Vladimir Putin to restore the shipments of cereals and not to punish the African countries which have no relation in the conflict between kyiv and Moscow .
The conclusion of this agreement, signed on July 22 after tough negotiations, was to allow three Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea to dispose of grain stocks within 120 days. This involved more than 20 million tonnes of corn, wheat and sunflower stored in Ukraine.
According to the Joint Coordination Center (JCC), in charge of controlling Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea, which has been established since the conclusion of this agreement, 36% of these exports went to European countries.
With destination Spain in the lead with 15% of exports, Italy (7%), the Netherlands (5%), Romania (4%), Germany (3%), Ireland and France (1%) and Bulgaria and Greece for less than 1%.
But the first destination remains Turkey with 20% of exports, note experts, indicating that the country transforms wheat into flour and then resells it to countries in the Middle East.
And it is in last position that appear the most fragile countries which were to be the main recipients, such as Egypt, Sudan, Yemen, Somalia, and Djibouti. According to experts, wheat exports remain low in comparison with other cereals such as maize exported in large quantities to European countries to feed livestock.
“Almost all grain exported from Ukraine is sent not to developing and poorer countries, but to European Union countries,” President Putin told an economic forum in Vladivostok.
For his part, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba, replied, without giving exact figures, that “two thirds of the ships sent are directed to Asia, Africa and the Middle East”, citing for his part, China, Egypt, Iran, India, Somalia and Libya among the countries having, according to him, received cargoes of Ukrainian cereals.
In any event, Africa is not the primary destination for these grain shipments, whereas it should have been initially and this measure, decided upon and negotiated under the auspices of the UN, should essentially enable countries poor and developing to avoid starvation.
Except that with 36% of Ukrainian exports going to Europe, and 20% to Turkey, this represents 56% of total exports, or more than half, in addition to Asian countries such as China and India. two countries alone represent more than 2 billion inhabitants and which also benefit from this measure to the detriment of Africa.