Certain supplies, including fuel and seeds, should be regulated by the government, President Vladimir Putin warned Russia in a televised address. But he blamed it on global shortages of food and not on western sanctions against Russia.
“It is clear that this year, against the backdrop of a global food shortage, we will have to be more prudent in our food supplies abroad, namely, to monitor carefully the parameters of such exports to countries that are clearly hostile towards us,” Putin said in a televised address at the agricultural industry meeting.
Putin said the manure market is already regulated by the government, and it is necessary to control the supply of fuels, seeds and pedigree stock to the country.
“In conditions of external restrictions, a most important issue is the availability of modern equipment and repair parts,” he added.
Western sanctions against Russia were laid because of “mistakes in the economic, energy, and food policies” of developed countries, which led to higher prices and lack of food supplies, Putin claimed.
“Against the background of minimal food supplies in the world, new sanctions are being imposed, the work of enterprises and logistics of fertilizer supplies from Russia and Belarus are being blocked, and our own fertilizer production in the West is falling due to high natural gas prices, which is also, in fact, the result of the activities of our partners in the West,” he said.
“In these current conditions, a shortage of fertilizers on the global market is inevitable,” he said, adding, “Not all countries will be able to buy the necessary amount of fertilizers for the current season, which means that crop yields will also decrease.”
Despite all of these negative factors, Putin claimed Russia has “food self-sufficiency.”
“For the main food groups, our domestic market is fully provided with its own food, its own production, and for some goods, such as sunflower oil, grain, the capacities of domestic enterprises cover the demand in excess and very good export potential for Russia has emerged,” he said.
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