EU countries increased grain imports from Russia by 30%: who is the main buyer

This year, EU countries increased their import of Russian grain by more than 30% compared to last year.

In the first 8 months of the current year, EU member states imported 31% more wheat and corn from Russia compared to the same period last year. This is equivalent to an increase of 739,000 tons, Tvnet.lv. reports.

Currently, the largest importers of Russian grain in the EU are Latvia, Italy and Greece, with Latvia showing the highest growth rates.

Thus, in Latvia, the import of grain from Russia, especially corn, has increased sharply. Agriculture Minister Armand Krause called this situation “unacceptable”.

Western sanctions against the terrorist country do not extend to the export of agricultural products from the Russian Federation. At the same time, the export of Ukrainian grain is difficult due to Russia’s constant attempts to block ports on the Black Sea.

Russia uses this situation to its advantage. For example, Russian wheat currently accounts for 24% of world exports of this grain, against 16% before the invasion of Ukraine.

In early October, the State Security Service of Latvia actually confirmed to journalists that it was monitoring the situation regarding the import of grain from the Russian Federation, but did not add any other comments.

According to the data of the Central Statistical Office, this year four Latvian enterprises imported corn from Russia, five – peas, and six – purchased cake.

The institution does not disclose the names of the buyers of Russian grain in Latvia, but the media assumed which companies they were talking about.

Data from the largest feed wholesalers show that the trend in foreign trade statistics corresponds to an increase in turnover, in particular, at Avrora Baltic LLC. Before the war, its turnover was 53 million euros, and last year it was almost 180 million euros.

Before the start of the war, this enterprise was still a Latvian branch of the Russian company “Sentyabr”. The latter is registered in the Lipetsk region, approximately 400 km from the Ukrainian border.