Updates with details
AMSTERDAM, Nov 11 (Reuters) – The Dutch government on Friday said it would release a consignment of 20,000 tonnes of Russian fertilizer that had been stuck in Rotterdam port due to sanctions, following a request from the United Nations.
The shipment is due to be sent to Malawi via the World Food Programme, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said in a statement.
Although grain and fertilizer do not fall under European Union sanctions “the fertilizer in question was frozen because a sanctioned individual is involved with the Russian company that owns it,” the statement said.
The Dutch Foreign Ministry declined to identify the Russian company or sanctioned person involved.
The U.N. first requested the shipment to be released in late October.
“The decision to release the fertilizer was made on the understanding that the UN would ensure that it is delivered to the agreed location, Malawi, and that the Russian company and sanctioned individual will earn nothing from the transaction,” the ministry statement said.
On Nov. 1, Russia’s TASS news reported that Russian fertilizer producer Uralchem-Uralkali is prepared to donate 240,000 tonnes of fertilizers stuck in EU warehouses on humanitarian grounds, with a first shipment destined for Malawi.
(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Toby Chopra)
((toby.sterling@thomsonreuters.com;))
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