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Russia says food and fertiliser sanctions must be lifted

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Russia says shipping restrictions also must be lifted

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Russia is the world's top wheat and fertiliser exporter

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Phosagro shares rise in Moscow

(Recasts, adds details on Russian exports of wheat and

fertiliser)

By Gleb Bryanski

MOSCOW, March 25 (Reuters) - Russia, the world's top

wheat and fertiliser exporter, said on Tuesday that Western

sanctions against companies involved in food and fertiliser

exports and shipping would have to be lifted as a pre-condition

for a Black Sea maritime security deal.

The deal was reached at talks in Riyadh on Monday. The

U.S.

agreed to help

to restore Russia's access to the world market for

agricultural and fertiliser exports.

Russia is expected to send around 40 million tons of

wheat to the global markets this season, mainly to traditional

customers in the Middle East such as Egypt, and aims to boost

its overall agriculture exports by 50% by 2030.

Russia also exported around 40 million of mineral

fertilisers last year with Brazil, India, China and the U.S. as

major buyers. The country plans to boost fertiliser production

by one third to around 80 million tons by 2030.

The Kremlin said implementation of both parts of the

agreement would require Western sanctions on Russia's

Rosselkhozbank, which services agriculture firms, to be lifted,

and the bank's access to the SWIFT international messaging

system restored.

Sanctions against Rosselkhozbank were behind Russia

withdrawal in 2023 from the earlier Black Sea Initiative, struck

in 2022 with the help of Turkey and the United Nations.

Despite Russian food exports reaching global markets,

especially countries that Russia considers "friendly", trading

firms have complained about international payment issues and

restrictions on vessels.

Sanctions on Russian food and fertiliser exporters,

insurance firms, servicing food and fertiliser shipments,

restrictions on vessels and trade finance operations, would have

to be lifted as well, the Kremlin said.

"We want the grain and fertiliser market to be

predictable, so that no one tries to 'dissuade' us from it,"

said Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Shares in Russia's major fertiliser producer Phosagro

were up 5.18%, after news of a U.S. promise to restore Russia's

access to the world market, according to Moscow Stock Exchange

(MOEX) public data.

Russia and the United States have also agreed to develop

measures to halt strikes on Russian and Ukrainian energy

facilities for a period of 30 days that began on March 18, the

Kremlin said.