Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s remarks at the 46th meeting of the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the BSEC Member States, June 13, 2023

Mr Chairman-in-Office,

Mr Secretary General,

I would like to begin by thanking our Serbian friends for their productive activities as the BSEC Chairman-in-Office. We note the progress made over the past six months. For the first time since 2020, in-person meetings have been resumed, at least at the level of experts. The Business Council’s activities received another boost, and the drafting of a new regional economic strategy has begun. We expect this positive trend to continue into the upcoming Turkish chairmanship. For our part, we will continue to provide the necessary support to the relevant efforts in the interests of improving our organisation’s efficiency.

Over its thirty-year-long history, the BSEC has established itself as a sought-after mechanism that forms regional identity and opportunities for sustainable development and prosperity in the Greater Black Sea region. Major initiatives that are being discussed within the organisation, including the construction of the Ring Motorway around the Black Sea, the approval of a regional strategy to facilitate trade and the introduction of a one-stop-shop mechanism as part of it, contain considerable potential for mutually beneficial cooperation and raising our citizens’ standards of living.

Modern challenges and opportunities set new goals. The coronavirus pandemic, disruptions in global supply chains, energy transition, and digital transformation dictate the need to increase the regional dimension in the global economy. It is important for the BSEC to adapt to rapidly changing realities.

We welcome the start of efforts to update the organisation's economic agenda. It is advisable to emphasise the role of the Black Sea region as an independent economic centre, its growing importance in trade, transport, energy, digitalisation, food security, education, and emergency response, as well as in improving the reliability of the banking and financial sectors.

The multipolar global economic system is opening up opportunities for the region to acquire importance in its own right in the context of the objective process of forming the Greater Eurasian Partnership with the participation of the members of the EAEU, ASEAN, the SCO and all other countries of our common continent. The BSEC should be encouraged to diversify international relations on an equal and mutually beneficial basis. The inclusive logic must apply to all observers as well.

Colleagues,

Regrettably, the trend towards artificial politicisation of the working processes in the BSEC and its Parliamentary Assembly continues unabated which represents a major obstacle to tapping the rich economic potential of the Black Sea region and undermines the atmosphere of dialogue and trust.

The beneficiaries of this state of affairs are easy to spot. The Western countries are striving to subordinate the Black Sea region to their economic and military interests, and are working hard to prevent its identity from getting stronger. Russia stands for preserving useful regional interaction mechanisms and forming proper conditions for their effective operation.

Our country continues to make efforts in the interests of promoting trade and economic cooperation, and strengthening food and energy security. Against the backdrop of the Nord Stream terrorist attacks, we ensure gas supplies through the Black Sea gas pipelines to all willing buyers. We are holding talks with Ankara and our other foreign colleagues to implement President Putin’s initiative to create a gas distribution centre in Türkiye. Every year, under the auspices of the BSEC, we hold annual international conference Risk Management in the Energy Sector.

We are working hard to overcome the global food crisis in the poor countries of the South. I want to point out that it is provoked, primarily, by the illegitimate sanctions imposed by the collective West and its earlier systemic mistakes and moves that have sent inflation and prices through the roof during the pandemic. Let me remind you of Russia's willingness to significantly increase food and fertilizer supplies on favourable and easy terms, including free of charge to the countries that are most in need.

Unfortunately, the Istanbul package signed on July 22, 2022, is still being implemented only with respect to Ukrainian food exports. The part of the package concerning Russian ammonia has so far remained inoperative. The Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline was blown up not long ago.

There is no progress in implementing the Russia-UN Memorandum, which is designed to lift illegal unilateral Western sanctions imposed on Russian agricultural products and fertilisers. To reiterate, if the Istanbul package fails to work the way it was originally designed by the UN Secretary-General before July 17, renewing it is out of question. The world needs Russian fertilisers and wheat no less than it needs Ukrainian fodder grain that is produced by American corporations and bought at dirt-cheap prices by Europeans who are hypocritically hiding behind humanitarian slogans. The Ukrainian part of the Black Sea Initiative turned into a commercial project long ago. According to the Joint Coordination Centre, only about 3 percent of it goes to countries in need. Of course, we want you to take note of the protests of five EU countries against Ukrainian grain supplies at zero tariffs. If it cares so much about the food security of the countries of the South, the European Commission should buy the surplus coming through the overland route and transfer it through WFP to those in need.

Colleagues,

Despite the artificially created difficulties, I would like to hope that the BSEC will continue to enjoy high demand as a platform to discuss ways to ensure growth and prosperity in the Black Sea region. It depends on our overall commitment to pragmatic and mutually beneficial cooperation.

I would like to thank the BSEC Secretariat headed by Mr Lazar Comanescu for its weighty contribution to ensuring the organisation’s work and wish success to our Turkish friends as Chairman-in-Office in the second half of the year.

Thank you.