This is the first cargo of approximately 200 thousand tons of Russian-made mineral fertilizers, which are owned by companies under EU sanctions and stored in Latvia.
In the near future, the World Food Program plans to export several more consignments of mineral fertilizers from Latvia, which are now subject to sanctions, in order to provide support to countries that most need this product.
Latvia has decided to allow the export of mineral fertilizers from Riga by the sub-sanctioned company Uralchem, provided that the company does not receive any financial benefit from this.
Russia has previously said it will refuse to renew a grain deal on exports from Ukrainian ports brokered by the UN and Turkey in July 2022 after May 18 because a list of demands to facilitate its own grain and fertilizer exports has not been met.
The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly cited fertilizer stuck in Baltic ports as one of the key stumbling blocks to extending the deal.
The move comes ahead of a meeting in New York next week between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and UN Secretary General António Guterres to discuss a grain deal.
