The "Belarus-1" TV channel puts it all down to the importance of Russia: flour and sunflower oil have disappeared or grown in price solely because of the European sanctions against Russia, thus Europe is no longer able to buy these products.
But this is far from being the case. In fact, the war in Ukraine started by Russia is significantly affecting the cause as Ukraine is the exporter of 50% of all sunflower oil in the world. So Ukraine had to drastically reduce sunflower oil production. Russia, on the other hand, also exports a lot of sunflower oil, 21% of the world's total.
As for the shortage of flour, Russia is considered the world's largest wheat exporter, and Ukraine takes 5th place in this ranking. And these supplies are at risk now.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, analyzing the situation, gives many reasons for food becoming more expensive in Europe. The war could prevent sowing and harvesting in Ukraine, damage the ports, roads and railroads used to bring food to the EU, and put the storage facilities where crops are stored out of order.
Insurance for merchant ships that will enter the Black Sea for products will increase in price. Ukrainians will not be able to feed themselves because of the war, moreover, the people of their own country will be in need of humanitarian aid.
It is also said that sanctions against Russia will have its own impact. But as we can see, this is not the first and certainly not the only reason for the rush in demand for flour and sunflower oil in Europe.
