Uralchem Group, a Russian fertiliser manufacturer, announced on Thursday it had shipped 30,000 tons of potash as humanitarian aid to Bangladesh.

The United Nations World Food Programme, which chartered the vessel, facilitated the delivery of the fertiliser, previously stored in Latvia. Uralchem said it covered sea freight as well as other costs associated with the shipment.

The shipment marks the seventh delivery of this kind to a developing nation since the end of 2022. It was sourced from stocks of fertilisers that were left stranded by sanctions in the European Union.

Since 2022, more than 400,000 tonnes (about 260,000 tonnes) of Russian fertilisers are stranded at EU ports and in warehouses due to the sanctions imposed on Moscow for its conflict in Ukraine.

Uralchem and the United Nations have worked together to organize their phased release of humanitarian shipments.

Since late 2022 it has provided approximately 220,000 tonnes mineral fertilisers to countries facing acute hunger.

Nearly 200,000 tons of this food was transported on vessels chartered to the WFP by EU ports and warehouses - to Malawi, Kenya and Nigeria, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka and now Bangladesh. (Reporting and editing by Andrew Osborn; Anastasia Lyrchikova)

(source: Reuters)