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62 I Eastern Europe bne June 2022
Critics say that Russia’s poor human rights record demonstrated that it had never observed the rules of the Council of Europe. Freedom House rates Russia as “not free”.
Russia’s membership of the World Health Organisation was more enthusiastic at times. Vladimir Putin endorsed the organisation in October 2021, saying that "Given the current situation, the role of the World Health Organization is becoming more and more important and its activities deserve global support."
Nonetheless, Moscow has been criticised for its sceptical attitude
towards western vaccines, which is likely to have contributed to vaccine hesitancy in Russia overall. Russia
has one of the highest mortality rates among European countries, but it is likely that the real number of deaths is much higher. A discrepancy between reported coronavirus (COVID-19) deaths and the number of excess deaths since the pandemic began pointing to manipulation of the figures.
The WHO and the WTO have both made moves towards excluding Russia since the invasion of Ukraine. Members of the World Health Organization's European region passed a resolution
in May that could result in the closure
of Russia's regional office and the suspension of meetings in Russia. The resolution said that the war in Ukraine was a “health emergency” due to mass casualties and the increased spread of infectious diseases.
Russia’s parliament already took measures to facilitate leaving the WTO in the event that Russia decides to do this. On 21 March, Parliament voted to adopt a law allowing Russia to leave the WTO. Russia says that the WTO should be taking action against the western nations that are introducing sanctions against it. Russia’s likely exit from both organisations will see it further isolated on the world stage.
Which agricultural powerhouses can shore up
world food supplies?
bne IntelliNews
New research from the University of the Potomac shows that
the food favoured in different countries does not necessarily correspond with what is produced locally. A taste for foreign crops was enabled by thirty years of globalisation and increasingly advanced agricultural and transportation technology. Now, this interdependency risks exacerbating food shortages around the world as the war in Ukraine imperils food security.
Wheat is one of the most striking examples. Wheat originated in Central and West Asia and the Mediterranean. Now it is consumed worldwide, and ranks as the most produced agricultural commodity for 14 countries. Wheat is
a particularly significant crop right now, because the war in Ukraine is disrupting outflows of wheat from
two of the world’s biggest exporters – Ukraine and Russia.
The root of the problem
Russia is the world’s third-biggest wheat producer. Russia and Ukraine together comprise one of the world’s
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crucial breadbasket regions, accounting for around 30% of the global wheat trade.
A Russian blockade of the Black Sea is preventing some Ukrainian wheat from reaching the market, and satellite photos appear to show Russian ships stealing Ukrainian grain. The effects are already being felt. Wheat prices jumped by 20% in March alone, and are now up 53% since the start of the year.
Wheat is an essential raw material for the processed food industry, so the increase in wheat prices is likely to have
a knock-on effect on the prices of other foods, too.
Africa is particularly dependent on Ukraine and Russia for its wheat supplies. About 42% of the continent’s wheat imports came from Ukraine and Russia between 2018-20, according
to The Conversation. Wheat prices in Africa are already up 60% since the start of the war. The poorest areas will be hardest hit by the rising prices.
The scale of the looming crisis is enormous. Around 25m tonnes of corn and wheat is
With a global food crisis looming, the onus is on the world's biggest exporters to help compensate for the shortfall left by adverse weather conditions and the war in Ukraine. Photo: bne IntelliNews.