The President of the Norwegian Yara announced the EU’s dependence on Russian fertilizers

The president of the Norwegian chemical company Yara, Svein Tore Holseter, said that the European Union (EU) has “replaced energy dependence on Russia with dependence on fertilizers” and food. This growing dependence also has an impact on the environment, he said.

The head of Yara believes that Europe has managed to reduce its energy dependence on Russia in a very short period of time, but this has also “led to huge costs for households and for industry.” He urged Europe “not to be naive about what might happen next.” “We have clearly seen how Russia and Putin are using fertilizers and food as weapons,” he told reporters (quoted by Euroactiv).

According to Eurostat data cited by the publication, nitrogen imports to the EU increased by 34% in 2022–2023, with Russia accounting for about a third of all supplies. Imports of urea (a mineral fertilizer with a high concentration of nitrogen) increased by 53%, doubling from 2020 to 2021, of which 40% came from the Russian Federation. It is noted that supplies have slowed down this season, but Russian urea still accounts for almost a third.

In October 2023, the Russian government decided to maintain fertilizer export quotas for another six months – the quota size was increased by 4%, to 16.95 million tons. Kommersant’s sources in the industry complained that the complex procedure for issuing quotas is holding back exports, despite the fact that the domestic market is already sufficiently supplied at fixed prices. Nevertheless, in 2023, fertilizer exports from Russia, according to analysts, could grow by 20%, approaching the 2021 values.

Details – in the publication “Kommersant” “Fertilizers grow exports”.

Laura Keffer