Second Russian Fertiliser Shipment Bound For W.Africa: UN

After a first shipment of Russian fertiliser blocked in European ports heads for Malawi next week, a second batch should go to West Africa, the United Nations said Friday

Geneva, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Nov, 2022 ) :After a first shipment of Russian fertiliser blocked in European ports heads for Malawi next week, a second batch should go to West Africa, the United Nations said Friday.

The news follows talks between Moscow and the UN this week aimed at ensuring that vital Russian fertiliser exports are not snagged by the Western sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine, in a bid to ease the global food insecurity crisis.

While hailing a positive step, Rebeca Grynspan, head of the UN's trade and development agency who was closely involved in the talks, said more was needed to avert a global fertiliser shortage.

Currently, around 300,000 metric tonnes of Russian fertiliser is blocked in different European ports, but efforts are under way to get it to countries in need.

The UN's World Food Programme is facilitating the shipment of 260,000 tonnes of fertiliser, which is being considered as a humanitarian donation by Uralchem/Uralkali, Grynspan said.

The first boatload of 20,000 tonnes of Nitrogen Phosphorus Potassium (NPK) is currently being loaded onto a WFP-chartered vessel.

It should sail from the Netherlands on Monday, bound for Malawi via a port in Mozambique, she said.

"Now we have a model that is working," Grynspan told reporters in Geneva.

"WFP is the one in charge of taking the fertiliser from the ports to the countries that need the fertiliser.

"There is clarity that this is a humanitarian event and that's the framework in which we have been able to all agree... to help ease the pain in the fertiliser crunch."