President Vladimir Putin has said Russia pulled out of the grain deal over the frustration of exporting free grain to Africa.
Speaking on Thursday during the opening session of the second Russia-Africa summit, Putin noted that the real facts have been twisted on what happened with the grain export deal.
“We were ready to export free of charge grain to Africa but this was frustrated during the deal. That's why we refused to renew the contract which was needed on July 17,” he said.
Putin, however, noted that Russia is ready to export more grain to Africa, adding that the continent has the potential of being food secure and exporting food in future.
“What Africa needs is technology, we are ready to share our technology on agriculture, for the betterment of the continent,” Putin added.
The countries which will soon receive free grain, are Somalia, Mali, Burkina Faso
Russia pulled out of a deal on July 17 that had guaranteed safe passage for grain shipments through the Black Sea.
Russia had indicated it will not renew the deal, which allowed safe passage of exports from Ukraine in the Black Sea, until its demands are met, protesting against sanctions imposed on its exports and trade.
One of its main demands is the reinstatement of the Russian Agricultural Bank (Rosselkhozbank) to the Swift payments system.
Wheat prices on the European stock exchange soared by 8.2 per cent on Wednesday from the previous day to £219.78 (Sh34,906.14) per tonne, while corn prices were up 5.4 per cent.
