DISINFO: Russia is the only actor capable of saving Europe with the supply of fertiliser
SUMMARY
And, of course, they came across the big 'surprise' called “Russia”: it turned out that our country is the world’s largest supplier of fertiliser, with a 20 percent market share.
Are we prepared to save Europe if its victory very soon, as usual, turns into defeat? The answer lies in a sack of Russian fertiliser.
RESPONSE
The narrative that Europe is completely helpless and depends solely on Russian fertilisers to avoid an agricultural collapse is a hyperbolic piece of disinformation.
The article contradicts its own dramatic message. It acknowledges that Russia controls only 20 percent of the global fertiliser market, which means the remaining 80 percent is supplied by other producers around the world. Global agricultural and trade data confirms this: while Russia is a leading exporter, it accounts for roughly 15.6% to 21% of global fertiliser exports, depending on the specific nutrient and year. The remainder of the global market is sustained by parallel heavyweights such as Canada, China, Morocco, and the United States, which output tens of millions of tonnes annually.
Second, the article dismisses the European Commission's statements about a "strategy for diversifying supply sources” as mere bravado, yet international trade data directly contradicts this. While Russia remains a major supplier, the EU is not dependent on it alone. Detailed trade analysis by the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) shows that the EU imports fertilisers from a broad and diversified group of non‑Russian partners. According to the data, key suppliers include Morocco (14% of EU imports), Egypt (14%), Algeria (7%), and Canada (5%), all of which play an important role in the European market.
By selectively ignoring the existence and capacity of these alternative supply chains, the article inflates Russia’s importance by exploiting geopolitical disruptions. And while there are genuine concerns about fertiliser prices due to the war in Iran, the statistical reality remains that Europe’s agricultural sector is supported by a broad and diversified global market. This clearly shows that the continent’s food security does not depend on a single “sack of Russian fertiliser.”
See related cases like EU sanctions undermine global food security; EU is causing a global food shortage by keeping all the grain from Ukraine; Western sanctions cause a food crisis and price growth, that the food crisis has nothing to do with the Russian special operation, that Russia places no obstacles on the export of Ukrainian grain.