Russian grain supplies to Bangladesh soon: Envoy Semenova

Talks are in progress on the supply of Russian grains to Bangladesh and nearing completion, acting Russian Ambassador to Bangladesh Ekaterina A Semenova said on Wednesday.

"The talks are underway. Hopefully, it will be completed very soon. The amount is around 200,000 tonnes," Semenova told a discussion during a visit to The Business Standard offices.

"It is a G2G contract but private suppliers are also available. We have Russian companies approaching us to deliver grain supplies here.

"The harvest [in Russia] this year was exceptional. We will be able to supply abroad some 40 to 50 million tonnes of grains according to some estimates," she added.

Russia, the world's biggest wheat exporter, on 23 June signed a supply deal to export 3 lakh tonnes of wheat. Of the amount, 2 lakh tonnes were expected to arrive in two months and the rest 1 lakh tonnes in the next one month.

The Russian ambassador, however, mentioned some technical issues in the process, including the problem with the local banks opening letters of credit in favour of the Russian suppliers due to sanctions.

"It is surprising because agricultural commodities have been exempted from sanctions. So, there should be no fear of sanctions from the Western countries," Semenova said.

Russia wants to remain a reliable partner of Bangladesh to fulfil the country's grain requirements and to contribute to the country's food security through G2G contracts, and private suppliers, the acting ambassador said. "We are here and we won't let you down," she said.

About the payment channels through SWIFT, she said, "Only seven Russian banks have been barred from using this system. The rest are free to use it. There are certain apprehensions among Bangladeshi financial institutions. But, as I said, agricultural commodities have been exempted from the sanctions. So, there should be no problem issuing a letter of credit."

On the questions of supply disruption and the Russian role behind this, Semenova said, "The reason for these disruptions is the sanctions. For example, our Russian ships are not allowed to enter the ports, insurance is not granted for our ships and supplies. It is the sanctions. It is not like we are unwilling to supply. We are very much willing."

Asked how she sees the end of the war that has afflicted the entire world in some way or another, the Russian envoy said, "If they [West] want us to stop the conflict, then [they should] stop supplying weapons [to Ukraine]. Otherwise, it is not possible."

Semenova said the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "withdrew from talks in Turkey, and virtual talks because he is not very independent. He takes instructions from his Western patrons from Brussels and Washington. As of now, we are open for talks, but we don't see any desire from the opposite side."

About the apprehension regarding the funding of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project, she said, "There should be no apprehension on that. Everything will be done on schedule. Talks are underway between [Bangladesh's] finance minister and our finance ministry. So, any technical problems will be settled.

"It is a major project [for us]. We won't do anything to jeopardise the schedule of implementation. We are expecting one of the major landmarks later this year. The pressure vessel for the second reactor will be installed sometime this September or October."

About the current energy crisis in Bangladesh and the prospect of Russian oil, the ambassador said the question of oil is "more controversial than grains. Otherwise, we are ready to strengthen cooperation."

She said, "India has augmented its supplies of Russian oil multi-fold…We are open now, we're ready to help [Bangladesh] because we want our friends to be safe in terms of food and energy security.

"Our major natural gas company Gazprom is already here. They have been operational here for more than ten years. They have been exploring and drilling wells. Recently, a memorandum of understanding was signed on drilling wells on Bhola Island. It has great potential in terms of gas reserves. I think that some prospects on oil supplies are also here and we should work on that."

Semenova praised the complicated rope that Bangladesh rides on balancing between the West and Russia regarding the Ukrainian crisis. "We are very much grateful to Bangladesh for the balanced position it took at the UN when the country abstained from voting on the Russian resolution. It is a very courageous position given all the pressure that is imposed on Bangladesh from the West," she said.

"This balanced position is what we value the most. Recently your prime minister made a strong comment on the sanctions…We are grateful for this strong and articulated support. I think now everybody can agree that sanctions are not influencing Russia in terms of ending the conflict. It is not the way," she added.

The ambassador said she sees bright prospects for trade between Bangladesh and Russia in future. "There are a number of opportunities in terms of augmenting the supplies of grains, mangoes, and potatoes from here. We have this prospect for oil and gas supplies. We are also willing to explore some opportunities in the energy and power sector. We have several projects on the table and we are very much optimistic about our future."

Acting Ambassador Semenova also praised Bangladesh's self-reliance on pharmaceuticals. It is a promising area besides RMG and agri products, she said.

"We can only envy you on this [pharmaceuticals]. For us, it is much less. So, we are willing to import medicines from Bangladesh."

The ambassador mentioned that the interest among Russian companies is growing towards Bangladesh.

"The opportunities are coming from here and Russian companies are more and more interested in coming here. In the coming years, we will see more new projects and new Russian companies present here," Semenova said.

The Business Standard Editor Inam Ahmed, Executive Editor Sharier Khan, Managing Editor Chowdhury Khaled Masood, Deputy Editor Mubin S Khan were present during the discussion.