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Ukraine was main supplier of grain to Pakistan until February 2022 — expert

Pakistan was reportedly forced to look for alternative suppliers of agricultural products in order to meet domestic demand

ISLAMABAD, July 14. /TASS/. Ukraine was the main supplier of grain to Pakistan in the 2021/22 financial year but after the start of the Russian special operation grain supplies stopped and Islamabad was forced to look for alternative suppliers. Muhammad Taimur Khan, a Research Associate at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad (ISSI), said this in an interview with TASS.

"Ever since the Russia-Ukraine conflict started in February last year, grain exports from Ukraine to Pakistan stopped immediately and no grain was being imported by Pakistan from Ukraine," the expert said.

He added that before that, Ukraine was Pakistan's primary grain supplier with imports reaching to 1.3 million metric tons in the marketing year 2021-22.

"After the signing of the landmark Grain Export Deal in July 2022 between Russia and Ukraine, there was conversation in Islamabad about prospects of importing grain from Ukraine under this deal. However, such plans did not materialize," he said.

Pakistan was forced to look for alternative suppliers of agricultural products in order to meet domestic demand. Khan added that Islamabad is now the fifth largest importer of Russian wheat.

Agreements on the export of food and fertilizers from Ukraine to the international markets were concluded on July 22, 2022 in Istanbul for 120 days. One of the agreements regulates the order of grain supplies from the Kiev-controlled ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny controlled by Kiev.

In addition, a memorandum was signed between Russia and the UN, which implies the obligations of the world organization to remove various restrictions on the export of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to world markets. The grain deal has been repeatedly extended, the last time - on May 17 for 60 days. The Russian Foreign Ministry previously stated that the Russian part of the agreement is not being implemented.

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Ukraine Pakistan

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