EU farmers oppose new duties on Russian fertilizers

European Union (EU) agricultural producers are against new barrier duties on fertilizers for Russia, which the European Commission (EC) has proposed to introduce. This is evidenced by a statement, published on the website of the largest trade union association of European agricultural producers Copa and Cogeca on January 29.

The introduction of sanctions against Russian and Belarusian fertilizer producers, as indicated in the document, is a step that will seriously affect agricultural production and competitiveness.

It is noted that European farmers currently have no guarantees that the shortage of fertilizers will be compensated by increased domestic production at competitive prices, which is the main argument for these sanctions. The publication also pointed out that such measures could lead to an increase in fertilizer prices by €40-45 per tonne next season.

"This will put additional financial pressure on farms, which are already facing extremely difficult economic conditions. The consequences for agricultural production, competitiveness and farmers' incomes could be catastrophic," the association said in a publication.

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The fact that the EC plans to introduce duties on agricultural products, nitrogen fertilizers from Russia and Belarus became known on January 28. It was noted that the tariffs will support the growth of domestic production and the EU fertilizer industry, which suffered during the energy crisis, as well as allow to diversify supplies from third countries.

In June 2024, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Russia's retaliatory measures to the EU decision to raise duties on imported Russian and Belarusian agricultural products would not be long in coming. In her opinion, these are not trade and political measures, but another anti-Russian sanctions.

Associate Professor of the Department of Economic Policy and Economic Measurements of GUU Maxim Chirkov, in turn, pointed out that the increase in tariffs would lead to higher food prices in Europe. At the same time, the impact of such unfriendly actions in the economy will be limited for Russia, as the European market is not the main market for the country, he added.

The West has increased sanctions pressure on Russia amid a special operation to protect the population of Donbass. The decision to launch it was made by Russian President Vladimir Putin amid an aggravation of the situation in the region due to Ukrainian shelling.