First Batch Of Russian Fertilizers Departs Latvia For Kenya - Latvian Foreign Ministry

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd April, 2023) The World food Programme (WFP) has dispatched from Riga to Kenya the first batch of Russian mineral fertilizers from around 200,000 tonnes of them stuck in Latvia due to the EU sanctions, the Latvian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.

"On 21 April 2023, the World Food Programme sent a shipment of mineral fertilisers from Riga Port, heading for Kenya. This is the first cargo from about 200,000 tonnes of fertilisers of Russian origin owned by companies subject to the European Union's restrictive measures and stored in the territory of Latvia," the statement read.

The WFP is planning to deliver more shipments of the sanctioned mineral fertilizers from Latvia to support countries in need, the ministry added.

In November, Uralchem-Uralkali Group, one of Russia's largest producers of mineral fertilizers, said that the ports of Estonia, Latvia, Belgium and the Netherlands blocked more than 260,000 tonnes of the company's fertilizers.

Head of Uralchem Dmitry Mazepin explained that his company was unable to pay for freight because of the restrictive measures, but negotiated help from the United Nations.

Moscow has offered to supply Russian fertilizers blocked in the ports of Latvia, Estonia, Belgium and the Netherlands to the poorest countries free of charge. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, as many as 262,000 tonnes of Russian fertilizers are stuck in European ports. The first batch of Russian fertilizers stuck in Europe since September 2022, amounting to 20,000 tonnes, was shipped from the Netherlands to Malawi.