TIRANA, March 2, 2022 – While Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and resulting sanctions are likely to have a myriad of effects on European economies, including Albania’s, a shift of where grains come from will be the first effect, economic experts say.
Based on 2021 figures, Albania gets half its grain from Russia and Ukraine, with the lion’s share, 46 percent, coming from Russia, according to official INSTAT figures. Another 35 percent come from Serbia, while 15 percent come from places like Italy and France.
Grain importers say they are working to diversify import sources so there are no shortages – casting a wide net all the way to Latin America — but warned that there could be a price increase as a result.
Bread is Albania’s staple food and its price is seen as a benchmark for all food prices, which have already seen large increases in the past few months due to supply chain and labor issues as a result of the pandemic.
Some grain and flour retail and wholesale sellers have reported that people are currently buying more product than they need to stock up before the inevitable price increase.
Shortly before Albania levied sanctions on Russia, on Feb. 28, Albania received what will likely be the last shipment of Russian grain, about 1 percent of its annual import from the country, as reported by Monitor magazine. A Russian ship that had traveled for two weeks prior to docking in Durres brought 3000 tons of grain.
Both Russia and Ukraine are some of the world’s largest producers of wheat and cereals.
