Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed the government to sign an agreement with China to establish a grain corridor that would increase exports to the Asian country, it was announced on Wednesday.
The aim of the agreement, which should be ready on October 1, is to increase grain production in Siberia and especially in the Far East, whose regions border China.
One of the most important links in the new land corridor between Russia and China would be the existing rail terminal in the Zabaikal region, which borders China and Mongolia.
This rail terminal, which was commissioned in September 2022, is considered the first of its kind in the world and has a capacity to transport eight million tonnes per year.
In addition to solving the problem of the difference in the width of the roads between the two countries, it has a grain supply monitoring system.
Under this project, Russia launched a grain program along the Trans-Siberian Railway with a storage capacity of 1.4 million tons, a maritime terminal and several Russian distribution centers in Kazakhstan.
Moscow is threatening to pull out of the Black Sea grain agreement, the parties of which (Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN) are meeting in Istanbul this Wednesday, arguing it cannot export its fertilizers due to Western sanctions.
Despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, unleashed by Russia in February 2022, Russian exports have increased in recent months.
Faced with the deterioration of its relations with the West, Moscow is looking for alternatives to grain exports, mainly to the Asian continent.
Source: DN
