Russia’s refusal to supply Ukrainian grain to the world will not cause a deficit in Georgia, but vice versa

Russia’s refusal to supply the world with Ukrainian grain will not cause a deficit in Georgia, but on the contrary, given the “unprecedented harvest” in Russia itself, “Georgia will be flooded with an even greater flow and many times cheaper.” This statement was made by Deputy Minister of Agriculture of Georgia Giorgi Khanishvili.

On October 31, on Palitra News, an official was asked if the government is preparing for the worst-case scenario and whether a possible Russian decision to “close the door, that is, arrest ships loaded with grain”, will have at least an indirect (if not direct) impact on the local market

“On the contrary, I think that if Russia closes the door and does not supply grain to the world, an even greater flow will pour into Georgia and many times cheaper. Because this year the Russian Federation has unprecedented reserves and grain harvest. Traditionally, Russia had 75 million tons, and this year 110 million tons. This is about 35 million more than in previous years. I think the most difficult period on the issue of grain is behind us. We remember the period when there was a real shortage of grain reserves in the world. This is no longer the case, the harvest is large, despite the war in Ukraine and the reduction in production in Ukraine,” he said.

Netgazeti contacted the Ministry of Agriculture for clarification on the official’s comment. The department stated that the statement had no political motives and Khanishvili spoke only about the logistical part of imports to Georgia.

“It is known that we use Russian grain. The question was what Georgia would do if Russia cut off supplies to the world. As the public knows, grain from Russia comes to Georgia through the land border. On this basis, this statement included a definition in terms of logistics only. It was meant that we can receive grain from Russia by land,” the ministry said.