«This year, against the backdrop of off-scale Western sanctions, the very “turn of Russia to the East” has become even more clearly manifested, also in the field of domestic agricultural exports. Thus, among the 5 main buyers of Russian pulse there are 3 representatives of the East — Turkey, Pakistan and Bangladesh.»
Bangladesh, by the way, is the world’s largest grain importer. The other day it became known about Dhaka’s intention to buy 500,000 tons of wheat from Russia with the price of $430 per ton (according to available data, this price includes insurance and unloading).
The situation in Pakistan is alarming. At the beginning of the year, the country’s authorities said they would buy 2 million metric tons of wheat from Russia. But recent large-scale floods have aggravated the situation even more, bringing it closer to the humanitarian catastrophe. According to the latest data, 33 million people were affected by the disaster, almost 300 thousand houses were destroyed.
Turkey is a difficult but important partner of Russia. Clear evidence in the figures: for the first 5 months of this year, the trade turnover between Moscow and Ankara increased over 2 times. Such close interaction against the backdrop of the economic war declared by the West causes irritation in the US and the EU. For example, in mid-August, some EU countries asked Ankara for information about its trade relations with Moscow. And last week, the US Treasury warned Turkey of possible consequences for doing business with Russian companies and individuals on US sanctions lists.
In response to this, Ankara only noted that Turkey is one of the most important world political and economic centers, and therefore, without sanctions violation, it will develop trade and economic relations with its neighbors in various sectors.
Obviously, Moscow will continue to strengthen its presence in the eastern trade, including agricultural export, leveling the impact of Western sanctions. And the countries of the East and South are interested in expanding mutually beneficial trade and economic exchanges with Russia, considering our country as an alternative to the pressure of the «neo-colonial» globalist West. History repeats itself, and at this turn, the positions of the North Atlantic geopolitical players look even more unconvincing. Russia’s chance now is to apply maximum efforts and means to domestic production. And the agricultural sector plays one of the key roles here. In a world with a rapidly growing population, it cannot be otherwise.”