OUR Dutch government announced today that it will release a cargo of 20,000 tons of Russian fertilizer, which was blocked in the port of Rotterdam due to sanctionson request United States.

The shipment is expected to be shipped to Malawi via the World Food Programme, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Although grains and fertilizers are not subject to European Union sanctions, “this particular fertilizer was frozen because the Russian company that owns it has a sanctioned individual,” the statement said.

The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to name the Russian company or individual involved in the sanctions.

The United Nations first called for the release of the cargo at the end of October.

“The decision to release the fertilizer was made on the understanding that the UN would ensure its delivery to the agreed location in Malawi, and that the Russian company and the person under sanctions would not gain anything from the deal,” the report says. in a ministry announcement.

On November 1, the Russian news agency TASS reported that Russian fertilizer manufacturer Uralchem-Ural was preparing to donate 240,000 tons of fertilizer blocked in European Union warehouses for humanitarian reasons, with the first batch destined for Malawi.

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters}