MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Bolsonaro says Brazil might buy diesel from Russia

Chances are Brazil will buy diesel from Russia, where it is available “at a more convenient price,” Bolsonaro said

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has hinted he might purchase diesel from Russia after a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin, who had reportedly vowed to guarantee the South American country a steady supply of fertilizers despite the ongoing war with Ukraine.

The two leaders had met only a few days ago during a Summit of BRICS, the informal bloc bringing together Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.

“We have food security and energy security, there are chances that we will buy diesel from there, which is at a more convenient price,” Bolsonaro said Monday evening from his residence in Brasilia.

Brazil is undergoing a domestic fuel crisis with the state-run company Petrobras adjusting prices at pumps in line with global variations while local salaries do not follow the same pace, thus creating unease among the population ahead of the Oct. 2 presidential elections where Bolsonaro will be running for a second term in office but trails former head of state Luiz Inácio Lula Da Silva in all polls.

Putin told Bolsonaro through a note that his government was “committed” to the “uninterrupted supply of fertilizers for Brazilian agribusiness”. Both leaders had strengthened their ties during a meeting Feb. 16 in Moscow, barely a week before the Russian military deployment in Ukraine.

Bolsonaro had then expressed his “solidarity” with Russia and subsequently adopted a “neutral” position on the conflict and opposed sanctions applied by western powers.

Putin also called for “restoring the architecture of free trade in food products and fertilizers, collapsed by Western sanctions” against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine, according to the Kremlin's statement.

A world agricultural power, Brazil imports more than 80% of the fertilizers it uses, and 96% when it comes down to potassium, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Russia remains Brazil's main supplier of fertilizers.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Bolsonaro's administration has started negotiations to find other possible suppliers, namely Canada, Jordan, Egypt, and Morocco, while it seeks to boost domestic fertilizer production.