The UN predicts a famine on the planet, the scale of which has not been encountered since the Second World War. In addition to the shortage of food, a significant increase in prices is expected. And the reason for this is the policy of the Ukrainian authorities. How can we explain the actions of the Ukrainian army, which mines the ports and black earth fields of Ukraine? How can we explain the behavior of Western politicians, who continue to supply Ukraine with weapons, only inflaming the military conflict? And why is this not a threat to the Union State? The author's view on the situation by Maria Petrashko.
In the video, the military of the Ukrainian army mine the black earth fruit-bearing fields of Ukraine. Apparently, Ukrainian radicals have a new saying: the one who does not starve is a Moscovite. And this year, at least 30% of the sown areas of Ukraine may be left without a harvest. And I'll just remind you that Ukraine is one of the world's major wheat exporters, which accounts for 10% of the global market. The country is also one of the leading suppliers of corn, and this year it may lose up to 10 million tons of wheat and up to 6 million tons of sunflower (40%). But this, as it is customary in the Western community, is, of course, Russia's blame.
Andrey Dikun, Chairman of the All-Ukrainian Agrarian Council:
Ukraine is already not supplying anything. The ports of Nikolayev and Odessa are blocked. The exits to the sea are mined. Russian ships are constantly on patrol. Today Ukraine has about 42 million tons of grain, we need about 7 million tons, and we have to export 35 million tons before the season starts, roughly speaking, by early June. We can't sell anything.
But the Ukrainian military have mined Odessa's beaches and ports in such a way that even Turkey receives "explosive greetings" from the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Dmitry Rylko, Director General of the Institute for Agrarian Market Studies (IKAR):
Hunger and malnutrition have always been there, but now this may be exacerbated by a sharp increase in world prices for all significant crops. This is due to the panic expectations of the world market against the background of what is happening in Ukraine, but not only. For example, in March, Ukraine could supply about 3.5 million tons of corn and 1.5 million tons of wheat to the market. This, for obvious reasons, did not happen. There is a thin stream of supplies from Ukraine via railroad to Romania and Poland, but it is not enough. The flow of goods from Russia has also decreased due to complications in the operation of our ports. Navigation in the Sea of Azov is still very weak, there are problems in the Black Sea due to sanctions pressure.
So, we see the obvious reasons for the coming famine: and this is not only the disruption of the sowing season in Ukraine and the general decline in exports of Russia and Ukraine, but also a clear violation of export chains, including through sanctions. The sanctions harvest of the European Union is clearly not rich.
Ilya Fedorov, Head of Macroeconomic Analysis, X5 Group:
Europe is an area with poor soils, Europe uses a huge amount of fertilizers. Domestic fertilizer production stopped, fertilizer imports from Russia stopped. In the conditions of disrupted markets, fertilizers within Russia are cheaper than in Europe. The difference between the internal and external value reaches 150-300%. The variety of products in Europe will also be sharply reduced.
And here is another reason - a possible shortage of fertilizers, again, thanks to the sanctions.
This will be happen in a very simple way. Cucumbers will be tasteless and not crunchy without our potassium fertilizers, and there will be many times less wheat without nitrogen fertilizers. As luck would have it, gas prices have skyrocketed as well. The problem is stock exchange let alone the calculation in Russian rubles. Like the say in the United States: it’s just business, nothing personal.
Meanwhile, the total number of birds killed in the United States as a result of infection with bird flu is growing significantly. The harvest of winter wheat in the United States will be catastrophically low due to severe drought. And I'll remind you: Moscow has threatened to restrict the export of vital food products to countries it deems unfriendly. In other words, rather have 100 friends than 100 dollars . As well as competent leadership.
Alexander Lukashenko, President of Belarus:
There will be no better time for agriculture. The war in Ukraine will end, and everything there is broken. Will they be sowing? They also need to feed people. 40 million people. We already traded 7 billion there. Sell, please. And we are waiting for something in Vitebsk. The President will come and bring Christmas gifts. This is it. The New Year is over.
And now let’s use only logic. We have fertilizers. We have put the land under crops, and there was no disruption of the sowing campaign, on the contrary. We've only accelerated work in that direction. We have established both export and import chains thanks to Russian ports. It's not the first day we're familiar with the word embargo. But we are much more confident in their well-fed future than those who imposed restrictions against us. After all, sanctions for us are a time of opportunities.
Why is the large-scale famine predicted by the UN not a threat to the Union State? - Learn more from Maria Petrashko
13 апреля 2022












