According to Taliban officials, Afghanistan’s government has signed a provisional agreement with Russia to import petroleum products and wheat at a reduced price.
The agreement calls for the annual purchase of one million tonnes of petrol, one million tonnes of diesel, half a million tonnes of cooking gas, and two million tonnes of wheat, according to Akhundzada Abdul Salam Jawad, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
He said the import process for Afghanistan, which has been plunged into an economic crisis since development aid, on which the country relied, was cut following the Taliban’s takeover last year, was expected to “start soon.”
The acting commerce and industry minister, Haji Nooruddin Azizi, told Reuters that the agreement would run for an unspecified trial period, after which both parties were expected to sign a longer-term agreement if they were satisfied with the arrangement.
He declined to provide pricing or payment information, but he did say that Russia had agreed to a lower price than the world market for goods that would be shipped by road and rail to Afghanistan.
Azizi claimed that the Taliban government had received a discount from Russia compared to the average global price of commodities and that his ministry was working to diversify its trading partners.
The ministries of agriculture and energy in Russia made no immediate comments. However, the provisional agreements on the delivery of fuel and grain to Afghanistan were confirmed by Zamir Kabulov, the Special Presidential Envoy of Russia for Afghanistan.
“There were such agreements, indeed. As far as I understand, they are preliminary; now, the sides must sign specific [agreements] on volumes and range of products,” he told Russian state news agency TASS on Wednesday.
Western sanctions imposed as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have severely hurt Russia. To support its economy, it has been compelled by the unprecedented measures to increase exports to Asian nations, particularly China and India.
Russia, like every other nation, does not formally recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government.
However, Moscow hosted movement leaders prior to their return to power in August 2021, and its embassy is one of just a few that is still operational in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, following the hurried withdrawal of foreign forces led by the United States.
“The contract was agreed upon last month when the minister of industry and trade visited Russia,” Jawad said of the reported agreement.
With the humanitarian crisis getting worse, the action might help to lessen the isolation that has effectively cut it off from the world banking system. After the US froze $7 billion of its assets held there, Afghanistan’s banking system came dangerously close to collapse.
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