Russia delivers the first shipment of 'free gain' supplies to the African nation of Somalia

By Rhod Mackenzie

Russia, under the plan announced earlier this year by Vladimir Putin to send free shipments of grain to several African nations, has delivered the initial consignment to Somalia this week. Somalia has received a shipment of 25,000 tonnes of grain.

The delivery is a result of the agreement declared by the Russian president at the Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg in July. During the summit, Putin pledged to offer food aid, free of charge, to several African countries after the Black Sea grain deal brokered by the UN did not materialize.

The Russian leader vowed to provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic, and Eritrea with up to 50,000 tonnes of grain each, free of any cost.

According to Dmitry Patrushev, the Agriculture Minister of Russia, Moscow is committed to delivering a total of 200,000 tonnes of free grain to Africa, by the year-end.

Russia has also provided free shipments of fertiliser to a number of other countries. In a statement last month, Aleksey Polischuk, Director of the Second Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, announced that Moscow, in partnership with the UN World Food Programme, had despatched 20,000 tonnes of fertiliser to Malawi, 34,000 tonnes to Kenya, and was seeking approval for an additional 23,000 tonnes to Zimbabwe, 34,000 tonnes to Nigeria, and 55,000 tonnes to Sri Lanka.