Russia to send 30,000 tonnes of fertiliser

Russia will supply 30,000 tonnes of potassium, which means a ship full of fertiliser to Bangladesh for free of cost.

Russian Ambassador to Bangladesh Alexander Mantytskiy informed about the supply during a meeting with Home and Agriculture Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Jahangir Alam Chowhdury at the Secretariat today.

Jahangir thanked Russia for the initiative and asked to start the process quickly, according to a home ministry release.

The adviser requested the envoy to supply one shipload of wheat free of cost to Bangladesh along with the fertiliser. “Ensuring food security in the current flood situation is a big challenge for the government. We are working tirelessly to achieve this goal,” he said.

Adviser Jahangir said Russia is one of the major wheat and fertiliser suppliers to Bangladesh as the products are imported on a government-to-government basis.

Bangladesh has already paid for 2.6 million tonnes of wheat imports, but it was not possible to pay for the last consignment of imported wheat due to the prevailing economic situation, including floods, he said.

Considering the overall aspects, the adviser requested the ambassador to continue the uninterrupted supply of wheat and fertiliser to Bangladesh.

Ambassador Mantytskiy requested the Bangladesh government to inform Russia about the country’s needs in writing, and assured consideration.

During the meeting, various issues, including agriculture and food security, cyber security, and modernisation and capacity-building of forensic labs, were highlighted.

Counsellors of the Russian Embassy in Dhaka Anton Chernov and Vladimir Mochalov along with representatives of the embassy and senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs were present at the meeting.