Russia releases first cargo of wheat to Saudi Arabia

A symbolic 60,000-tonne cargo of Russian wheat has set sail for Saudi Arabia from a Black Sea port seven months after conditions were set to allow the trade, three sources told Reuters on Thursday.

The cargo is being sent by a trading house under a tender with optional origin it won a couple of months ago, sources said.

Saudi Arabian state grain buyer SAGO did not reply to a Reuters request for immediate comment.

Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter, has long sought access to the Saudi market.

Saudi Arabia last August moved to smooth a path for Russian wheat imports by relaxing import specifications.

That was seen as a sign of strengthening ties with Moscow beyond cooperation on oil, weeks before Russia’s President Vladimir Putin visited the country.