ST. PETERSBURG, July 30. /TASS/. Russia will share part of the income it receives from the growth of grain prices with Africa by sending food there, President Vladimir Putin said at a press conference on Saturday.
"When we announced that we were withdrawing from the grain deal, prices on the world market slightly grew. This means that our companies will receive more, which means we will receive more taxes. And if we receive more taxes, we will share part of our income with the poorest countries and deliver certain amounts of food for free," he said.
Putin stressed that Russia is doing this "not to its own detriment."
"We announced that we were withdrawing from the [grain] deal - prices have risen, our companies have earned more, the budget has received more income. We will share a part of this income. I see nothing bad here either for us or for the poorest countries that will receive this grain," the President explained.
During his speech at the plenary session of the Russia-Africa Forum, Putin announced free grain supplies for Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic, and Eritrea. The Russian leader also said that Moscow would provide free delivery of grain products to consumers.