Afghanistan, now under the rule of the Taliban, became the largest importer of Russian flour in 2024, doubling its purchases compared to the previous year.
This was reported by Russia’s state agricultural export agency, Agroexport, as cited by Reuters.
The surge in imports coincided with Russia’s efforts to strengthen its ties with the Taliban government. Last month, Moscow took another step toward recognizing the Taliban regime when the Russian parliament voted in favor of legislation that could remove the group from its list of banned terrorist organizations.
According to Agroexport’s preliminary estimates, Afghanistan purchased Russian flour worth nearly $80 million in 2024, double the figure recorded in 2023. Afghanistan relies heavily on imported flour due to insufficient domestic production capacity to meet its internal demand.
Overall, Russia’s exports of wheat and wheat-rye flour reached $300 million last year, reflecting a 3% increase in value and a 7% rise in volume, according to the export watchdog.
China and Turkmenistan were also among the top three importers of Russian flour.
Russia has also committed to accepting labor migrants from Afghanistan, providing job opportunities in certain regions of the country, according to the Moscow Times.
Russia has been accused of leveraging food supplies as a geopolitical tool. Reports indicate that Russian forces have looted Ukrainian grain worth up to $1 billion, redirecting these supplies to international markets to fund its wartime activities.
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