EU Ready to Relax Sanctions Against Key Russian Fertilizer Producers, Reports Suggest

BRUSSELS (Sputnik) - The European Union is ready to relax sanctions for Russian companies with significant involvement in fertilizer production to ensure stable exports of food products, especially to Africa, the local media reported on Friday.

On Friday, the EU adopted the ninth package of sanctions against Russia, with new restrictive measures not targeting trade in agricultural and food products. European Council President Charles Michel said earlier in the week that the delay in the adoption of measures was due to the desire not to jeopardize global food security.

According to the report, EU states could unfreeze money of Russian chemical and fertilizer companies to finance shipments of these products to Africa under the deal reached within the bloc on Thursday after a group of EU countries including France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal argued that current sanctions create extreme difficulties for exports of fertilizers to third states.

A Kenya Airways employee controls an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) as it spreads fertilizer over a tea farm at Kipkebe Tea Estate in Musereita on October 21, 2022.

© AFP 2023 / PATRICK MEINHARDT

At the same time, Euractiv noted that the transaction could be rejected if there are some national security concerns, and any country that wants to unfreeze Russian assets for shipments of food products has to consult the European Commission first before actually making the decision.

Poland and Lithuania, which had been last in the EU to lift their opposition to the agreed measure, have reportedly warned other member states granting exemptions to Russian fertilizer companies would "open a Pandora's box" in terms of complications regarding further sanctions against Russia and Moscow's response to them.