Russia-Ukraine Crisis: Russia Temporarily Bans Grain Exports To Ex-Soviet Countries

Russia-Ukraine Crisis: The EUE is an economic alliance of five former Soviet republics (Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan).

Harvester harvests grain crops on a field near the village of Prokhorovo (File photo: AFP)

New Delhi: Russia decided to limit grain exports to the four former Soviet republics to avoid shortages and rising prices, as reported by news agency AFP.

“Russia is introducing a temporary ban on the exportation of grains to the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union,” the government’s press service said in a statement late on Monday as quoted by AFP.

The EUE is an economic alliance of five former Soviet republics (Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan).

The Russian government also said it would stop exports of “white and raw cane sugar to third countries.”

Restrictions on cereals will apply until June 30 and sugar until August 31, the Russian government said, explaining the decision "to protect the domestic food market given the situation of external restrictions".

Cereals and sugar are some of the foods that have recorded the highest inflation in Russia since the start of the pandemic, to the point that sugar prices were regulated by the authorities from late 2020 to June 2021.

For several days now, some supermarkets have been rationing certain products including sugar. According to the Russian statistical agency Rosstat, its price increased by 13% in the week of March 5-11 alone.

On Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also warned that the world must act to prevent a “hurricane of hunger and a meltdown of the global food system.”