Brazil dependent on fertilizers from Russia: FM
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The Brazilian foreign minister says that his country is dependent on Russian fertilizers in light of a crisis surrounding agriculture and foodstuffs in the wake of the Ukraine war.
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Brazilian Foreign Minister Carlos Franca attends a news conference following talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Russia February 16, 2022 (Reuters)
Brazil depends on fertilizers from Russia, Brazilian Foreign Minister Carlos Alberto Franca said Tuesday, confirming that Brasilia wanted to buy less costly Russin diesel fuel.
"We are partners at BRICS. We rely heavily on fertilizer exports from Russia," Franca said after a debate on peacekeeping held by Brazil at the United Nations.
Franca also said Brazil had to make sure it had enough diesel for its agriculture needs and intends to buy as much fuel as possible.
"Russia is a great provider of oil and gas," Franca highlighted.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro announced Monday that his country intended to buy less expensive diesel from Russia in light of the surge in energy prices all over the world.
Russian Ambassador to Brazil Alexey Labetskiy later announced that talks were underway between Moscow and Brasilia about the Russian gas supply to the Latin American country.
"Negotiations between the Russian and Brazilian ministries of energy, between companies that supply energy, are ongoing, I will not anticipate their completion," he told Rossiya 24 broadcaster.
"These negotiations are ongoing. I think that soon we will be able to see positive results," the ambassador added.
Despite the massive campaign of Western sanctions against Moscow, Brazil and Russia have been seeking to maintain current commercial, economic, and investment links, with a specific emphasis on Russian fertilizer exports.
Brazil is Russia's main trade partner in Latin America, with the turnover having reached almost $7.5 billion last year.
Labetskiy revealed that Russian fertilizers are crucial for Brazil's agriculture, describing the sector as a "locomotive" of the Brazilian economy. He also expressed that like Brazil, Russia wants "to do everything to ensure that everything that was done by us and accumulated in the previous period would work both today and in the future."
