Russian Producers Expect EU to Issue Directive Excluding Fertilizers From Sanction List

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russian fertilizer producers are hoping that the European Union will soon issue a directive that would exclude Russian fertilizers from sanction lists, Russian Fertilizer Producers Association President Andrey Guryev said on Thursday.

"We hope that an EU directive/resolution/authorisation or other document will be issued in the near future that will guarantee banks, insurance companies, shipping companies, and suppliers of technologies and equipment for the mineral fertilizer industry in the EU and third countries that their relations with Russian fertilizer producers will not be looked at through the prism of sanctions legislation," Guryev said in a statement.

The president noted that "artificially created barriers," including the refusal of transport companies to provide vessels for the transportation of Russian cargo, the refusal of insurance, restrictions on vessels' calls at ports, and difficulties with financial clearing, "are destroying established logistics schemes and supply chains" and "escalating the food crisis."

Guryev also welcomed the EU Council's statements reaffirming that no sanctions on Russian fertilizers or food products should be imposed, adding that Russia plays a key role in "providing the world with food." He noted that Russia is the second largest producer of fertilizers in the world, behind only China, with 29% of imported fertilizers by the EU in 2021 coming from Russia.

The EU Council said last week that EU sanctions do not target trade in agricultural and food products, including wheat and fertilizers, between Russia and other countries. Moreover, Russia and the United Nations signed a memorandum of understanding on July 22 in Istanbul stipulating that the UN will be facilitating the transparent, unimpeded access of Russian food and fertilizers to the world markets.

On the same day, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine signed UN-brokered grain deal in Istanbul, which provided for the lifting of restrictions on the logistics of Russian food exports and on Moscow's assistance in the export of Ukrainian grain. The deal unlocks commercial food exports across the Black Sea from Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhnoe ports.