Ukrainian farmers harvest grain in the Odesa region, south Ukraine, 23 June 2023 amid the Russian invasion. Kyiv and Moscow on 22 July 2022 signed a deal to resume Ukrainian grain exports from Black Sea ports which would ease an international food crisis. The deal was brokered by the UN and Turkey. On 17 May 2023, the deal that allows Ukraine to export grain across the Black Sea has been extended for two months. Russia had been threatening to pull out of the deal, saying Western sanctions were hampering its own agricultural exports. Russian troops on 24 February entered Ukrainian territory, starting a conflict that has provoked destruction and a humanitarian crisis. EPA-EFE/IGOR TKACHENKO Russia is the world’s top wheat exporter and is shipping record volumes again this season, while its fertilizer deliveries are recovering to pre-war levels. It already adjusted the way its wheat-export tax is calculated in May, lowering the levy. The tax is currently at about $30 a ton, while traders sold Russian wheat to Egypt at $264 a ton — including freight — in the latest tender.
President Vladimir Putin last week promised to send free grain to six African countries that have strong ties with Moscow.
Russia’s State Duma is currently on holiday, so the measure is unlikely to be brought in until at least Sept 5.