Russia to give Bangladesh a ship full of potash fertiliser for free

Russia will provide a ship full of potash fertiliser - 30,000 tonnes- for free to Bangladesh, Russian Ambassador Alexander Mantytskiy said during a meeting with Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam today (29 August).

Thanking the ambassador for the offer, the adviser has also requested the ambassador to provide a ship full of wheat to Bangladesh for free during the meeting, according to a press statement issued by the home ministry.

"Ensuring food security in the current flood situation is a big challenge for the government. We are working tirelessly to achieve this goal," Adviser Jahangir said during the meeting at the Bangladesh Secretariat.

Stating that Russia is one of the top suppliers of wheat and fertiliser to Bangladesh, the adviser noted that so far, Bangladesh has paid the Eastern European country for 2.6 million tonnes of imported wheat.

"Due to the prevailing economic conditions including floods, the payment of the last shipment of imported wheat was not possible," he said.

The home affairs adviser requested the ambassador to continue the supply of wheat and fertiliser to Bangladesh in the current situation.

The ambassador, in response, requested the Bangladesh government to notify Russia in writing on this matter. and assured consideration in that case.

The Russian ambassador also called for the existing cooperation between the two countries to be taken one step further in the modernisation and capacity building of the cyber security and forensic labs in Bangladesh. 

The adviser expressed his agreement and said cooperation in this sector will be increased in the future.

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