It’s busy on the Flensburg Fjord on Friday afternoon: sailors and motorboat drivers are enjoying the sunny late summer day. In the middle of it all is the freighter “Kessu”, which left the port of Ust-Luga west of St. Petersburg a few days ago.
The ship has docked at Harniskai. Once again, a controversial cargo is being handled in the port of Flensburg: According to reports, the “Kessu” was carrying fertilizers on board. The cargo is not affected by the sanctions imposed by the EU against Russia. Fertilizer deliveries are nevertheless controversial.
Large quantities of gas are used for production. The fertilizer is therefore actually “nothing other than refined gas,” said the managing director of the German fertilizer manufacturer SKW Piesteritz some time ago.
Before the war in Ukraine, the share of Russian fertilizer in the EU was six percent. Now it is more than 30 percent. Russia – so the interpretation goes – can now use some of the gas that is no longer sold to Germany for fertilizer production and thus indirectly make money after all.
Team SE does not use fertilizers from Russia
The largest agricultural trading company in the region, Team SE from Flensburg, has completely avoided using Russian fertilizers since the beginning of the war, but is an exception. In addition to animal feed and grit, fertilizers – not only from Russia – account for the majority of the cargo handled at the port of Flensburg.
