SAMARKAND, September 16. /TASS/. Less than 5% of the grain exported from Ukraine was sent to the world's poorest countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters on Friday after his visit to Samarkand.
"Yesterday, 121 ships left Ukrainian ports. Out of 120 ships, only 3 were sent to the poorest countries under the UN food program. About 35, maybe a little more percent of the grain exported from Ukraine went to European countries. Not to the poor countries, and certainly not to the poorest countries in the world. And only 4.5% went to the poorest countries under the UN program," Putin said.
The Russian leader also noted that most of the grain exported from Ukraine belongs to American companies that own land there.
"Americans, by the way, are pragmatic people. When we talk about exporting grain from Ukraine, do you know who exports it? American companies. They own this grain to a large extent. It turned out that the lands in Ukraine were sold to American companies a long time ago, this is their grain, they export their grain," the head of the Russian state noted.