ANKARA, November 8. /TASS/. Turkey is ready to process Russian wheat free of charge for export to poor countries, Turkish Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Vahit Kirisci told reporters on Tuesday.
"We have unused capacity. For example, in the flour milling industry, production of pasta, semolina and bulgur," he said, adding that this capacity could be used to process "free wheat, which we will receive from Russia."
"We will give it for free to the least developed countries in the form of flour and bulgur, which is the desire of our President," he said.
According to Kirisci, such products could potentially be supplied to "the eight poorest countries." However, the minister did not specify when such deliveries could start.
On November 2, Russia decided to resume participation in the grain deal after Ukraine, through the mediation of the UN and Turkey, guaranteed in writing that it would not use the security corridor in the Black Sea for military purposes, the Russian Defense Ministry said. However, Moscow stated that they reserve the right to withdraw from the agreement if Kiev violates the guarantees.
As Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier, Moscow is pleased that Ukraine, with Ankara's help, has signed such security guarantees, vowing that there won’t be any repeat attempts to use the humanitarian routes for the export of grain in the Black Sea for military purposes. But, he added, Moscow still does not see any progress regarding the second part of the agreement, which concerns removing any obstacles to the export of Russian fertilizers and grain.