JRL NEWSWATCH: “Russia is winning the global grain war; And it’s turning EU countries against Ukraine in the process.” – PoliticoEU
“The main reason … EU farmers can’t sell their … goods … has nothing to do with Ukraine and its huge agricultural sector. … [I]t is Russia, whose own record farm output — and world-beating exports — have driven crop prices down to the point where farmers everywhere are hurting. … Aided by extremely favorable weather, Russia has grown unprecedented amounts of wheat over the past two years and sold it cheaply on the world market. That has reversed a boom in grain prices, and driven them down to prewar levels … uneconomic for farmers in countries like Poland. They responded by blocking the border with Ukraine at the start of this year, blaming their eastern neighbor ….
Over the past year, Moscow has sent hundreds of thousands of tons of free grain to countries in Africa and Asia, currying favor with authoritarian regimes there and helping them stave off civil unrest. … [Russia]
has also signed lucrative deals with Brazil, Mexico and other Latin American countries whose own harvests have been decimated ….
Unlike other big grain exporters, Moscow does not play by the rules, so there are long-term risks from this growing dependence ….
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