ISLAMABAD – The first ship, carrying 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat from Russia to Pakistan, arrived at the Gwadar port on Thursday.
The import of 450,000 metric tonnes of wheat from Russia received approval from the federal cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) last year.
The approval was given after Pakistan’s deadly floods last year destroyed standing crops on hundreds of thousands of acres, at a cost of $372 per metric tonne from February to March.
According to Pasand Khan Buledi, chairman of the Gwadar Port Authority (GPA), the first ship arrived at the port of Gwadar with 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat.
Eight additional cargo ships will transport Pakistan’s remaining 400,000 metric tonnes of wheat from Russia.
“Arrangements had already been made under an agreement between Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) and the Gwadar International Terminal Limited (GITL) to handle the wheat import,” Buledi added.
Besides wheat, Pakistan this year signed agreements with Moscow to import cheap oil and gas as the South Asian country struggled to meet its energy needs due to a severe forex crunch.
