Prime News Ghana

Our invasion of Ukraine is not responsible for economic crisis- Russia to Bawumia, others

By Justice Kofi Bimpeh
Shares
facebook sharing button Share
twitter sharing button Tweet
email sharing button Email
sharethis sharing button Share

The Russian Embassy in Ghana has in a series of tweets rejected claims that their invasion of Ukraine is responsible for the current economic crisis across the world.

“However, the truth is different,” the Embassy said in a tweet on Monday.

“The Embassy wishes to shed some light on the roots and drivers of this crisis and provide a comprehensive and objective analysis without emotions and political prejudice.”

READ ALSO : Bawumia blames Russia-Ukraine war for current economic hardship

In a thread to the main tweet, Kremlin’s representative in Accra explained that the current situation in the food market, for instance, started two years ago and “not a result of two months of this year”.

"The current situation in the food markets is not a result of two months of this year, but a steady trend of at least last two years. Food prices started rising in mid-2020 and reached an all-time high in February 2022. This is a real market shock caused by high demand and rising prices on food, raw materials, and transportation services, including freight in the post Covid recovery period."

 

Dr Bawumia in his Economic Lecture blamed the current economic hardships in Ghana on the ongoing geopolitical tension between Russia and Ukraine.

Explaining why the Russia-Ukraine war is responsible, he stated that Russia accounts for some 30 per cent of Ghana’s imported grains , 50 per cent of flour and 39 per cent of fertilizer.

The warfare, therefore, affected the local economy, he said.

“The increase in commodity prices has been exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Russia and Ukraine together account for 30 per cent of the global wheat export. The longer the conflict the greater will be the disruptions to global food supply. The country is also likely to slow global growth.


“According to the AfDB the price of wheat has shot up by 62 per cent since the war begun. The price of fertilizer is up by 300 per cent, the price of maize is up by 36 per cent since the war begin . Here in Ghana 60 per cent of our total imports of iron ore and steel are from Ukraine.

“Russia accounts for some 30 per cent of Ghana’s imported grains, 50 per cent of flour and 39 per cent of fertilizer . So we are directly affected by the Russia-Ukraine ware. Unfortunately, we do not know when it will be over. The global increase in fuel prices is causing hardship.”