ROME. There is a dramatic “battle of wheat” that has been fought for a month over the export of essential products for planetary nutrition. One of the “indirect crimes” since the Russian invasion of Ukraine is the food crisis in poor countries. For example, Yemen is almost entirely dependent on food imports, with more than a quarter of its grain supplies coming from Ukraine, according to the World Food Program.
Collected
Ukraine aims to achieve 70% of last year’s harvest despite the war. ”Rostyslav Shurma, deputy head of the presidential office, said Ukraine is launching a government program to support agricultural producers through subsidies. 10th of the world‘s wheat comes from Ukraine, while Russia and Ukraine are collectively responsible for around 80% of the world‘s sunflower oil supply. Developing countries in North Africa, Asia and the Near East are among most dependent on Ukraine or Russia, leading the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to warn that the invasion could lead to a world food crisis. “Disruption of markets and supply chains food is likely to have a significant impact on food security, ”warns UNICEF.
Dependence
Italy is heavily dependent, for many raw materials, on Ukraine, Russia and even Belarus. And with the war that “puts our country’s supply chain at risk”, it is not easy “to go to other countries to recover these supplies”, warns the director general of the ICE Agency. Roberto Luongo raises an alarm just as the threat of “irreversible consequences” for Italy is coming from Russia if it continues on the path of sanctions. In fact, the war in Ukraine brings with it not only consequences for Italy in terms of exports and dependence on Russian gas supplies, but also a risk for our country’s supply chain. Faced with this danger, Italy looks to other markets, with the aim of recovering supplies and securing the country from possible shortages. “What is strongly emerging from the Russian-Ukrainian crisis – explains Luongo – is a very strong dependence on supplies from the two countries, Russia and also from Ukraine, on very important issues, ranging from ferrous and non-ferrous metals to fertilizers, to wheat “.
At risk
An addiction that puts “our country’s supply chain at risk. And it is not easy to go to other countries to recover these supplies », underlines the general manager on the sidelines of the meeting” Connecting infrastructures: transports, logistics and networks “at the Italian Pavilion of Expo. The country certainly did not sit idle. Even before the latest Russian threats. “We will work a lot on international markets to find out where to go to retrieve other supplies”, underlines the director general of the ICE. “Even before the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, the cost of containers had increased tenfold from 1,500-2,000 euros to 10-15 thousand euros for a 20-foot container” and “there were shortages for international transport. Now the situation is even more serious and serious on the export side, ”adds Luongo. To this picture, we must add the theme “energy, because Italy has 40% dependence on Russian gas”, points out the CEO of Ice.
Impact
It is in this context that the impact of the war is inserted, which highlights the strong dependence on certain types of supplies. In any case, Luongo wanted to underline «the effort being made at the government level, and also at the ICE level in support of businesses. We have created the helpdesk for Ukraine, we have our office in Moscow which is still operational precisely to give support to businesses together with the Foreign Ministry we are working very well to mitigate this difficulty ». With the exception of the energy issue, which is handled directly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “like Ice, we work alongside companies to go and see where we can find new sources of supply”, reiterates the general manager.
Shock
The event at the Italian Pavilion of Expo was organized by the ICE to tell the commitment of Italian companies abroad and the opportunities in Italy for foreign investors – in particular thanks to the Pnrr – in the construction, transport and logistics fields. . The latter, a sector that “has contributed a lot to maintaining Italy in the most serious moment of the pandemic crisis, and today is suffering a difficult and complicated moment due to the international crises that are combined with the energy crises”, argues Luongo. «If the pandemic had shaken the Italian European and world economic system from one side, this military crisis is creating other problems, and we hope to be able to get out of it as soon as possible. We, like Ice, are at the disposal of companies ”, he assures us.