Famine is predicted for the world without Russian wheat, and crop failure for Europe without fertilizers from the Russian Federation

The cost of wheat in the world has risen sharply in recent weeks, which could provoke a global famine, reports the German edition of Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten.

As Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch explained, Russia and Ukraine account for up to 30% of world wheat supplies. According to the expert, these countries are currently cut off from other states, so he predicted a global famine without Russian grain, Lenta.ru reports.

“Wheat is more expensive than ever, and a hunger crisis is looming in many countries,” the publication states.

It is noted that the decrease in the reserves of the largest exporters of wheat – the European Union, Russia, the United States, Canada, Ukraine, Argentina, Australia and Kazakhstan – will make the supply crisis more severe. At the moment, grain reserves reach 57 million tons, which is the minimum figure for nine years. Such volumes will be enough for the world for 27 days, and without the resources of Russia and Ukraine – less than 21.

Meanwhile, agricultural publication Pleinchamp does not rule out that crops in Europe may decline without Russian nitrogen fertilizers.

Thus, almost 25% of the total volume of nitrogen fertilizers that are imported to Europe are materials from Russia. In addition, the country is a leading supplier of natural gas and ammonia to Europe. These substances form the basis of the composition of nitrogen fertilizers, the publication explains.

Recall that on February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), and on February 24 he made an emergency appeal to the Russians and announced a special military operation in Donbass. In his speech, he stated that “circumstances require decisive action from Russia” and stressed that “Russia will not allow Ukraine to have nuclear weapons.”

In response to Russia’s actions, Western countries (USA, Canada, European Union, Great Britain, Japan) announced new, tougher sanctions against the Russian Federation, including financial and economic ones.

In particular, Russian banks fell under the sanctions, including Sberbank, VTB, Novikombank, FC Otkritie and Sovcombank, and for a number of state-owned companies it was difficult to attract foreign capital.

Later, the EU countries and the United States agreed to disconnect Russian banks that fell under sanctions from the international system of interbank transactions and information exchange SWIFT. In addition, it was decided to freeze the assets of the Bank of Russia, which will create difficulties for its use of international reserves. EU countries also pledged to take steps to limit the sale of citizenship — the so-called “golden passports” that allow wealthy Russians connected to the Russian government to become citizens of EU states and gain access to their financial systems. In addition, the European Union, the United States, Canada and a number of other countries have closed the sky for Russian aircraft.

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