Russia will supply Bangladesh with a 30,000-ton shipment of potash fertilizer at a free of cost.
Russian Ambassador Alexander Mantytskiy said this during a meeting with Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam on Thursday.
The advisor thanked Russia sincerely for this and instructed the relevant authorities to initiate the process promptly.
Jahangir Alam also requested the Russian envoy to continue the supply (export) of wheat and fertilizer to Bangladesh.
He stated: "Russia is one of the key suppliers of wheat and fertilizer to Bangladesh. Wheat and fertilizer are imported from Russia to Bangladesh on a government-to-government basis. Bangladesh has already paid for 2.6 million tons of wheat. Due to floods and the current economic situation, it has not been possible to pay for the latest shipment of imported wheat. The ambassador assured that if the matter is formally communicated by the Bangladesh government, Russia will consider it."
According to Faisal Hasan, senior information officer at the Ministry of Home Affairs, discussions were held on various topics including agriculture and food security, as well as modernization and capacity building of cyber security and forensic labs.
In addition to fertilizer, the advisor requested the ambassador to also provide a shipload of wheat free of charge, stating: "Ensuring food security amid the current flood situation is a major challenge for the government. We are working tirelessly to achieve this goal."
The advisor agreed, stating: "Future cooperation in this area will be further enhanced."
The ambassador urged to advance the existing cooperation between the two countries in the field of cyber security and forensic lab modernization.
The adviser expressed his agreement and said cooperation in this sector will be increased in the future.
Counsellors of the Russian Embassy in Dhaka, Anton Chernov and Vladimir Mochalov, representatives of the embassy and senior officials of the Ministry of Home Affairs were present in the meeting.