Food Minister Afroza Khanam has proposed building a Russian-funded wheat silo on unused land at Payra seaport in Patuakhali. It could start with a capacity of 200,000 tonnes and be expanded in stages to 500,000 tonnes, she said. Russia's ambassador to Bangladesh, Alexander Khozin, welcomed the proposal.
The idea came up when the ambassador paid a courtesy call on the minister at the food ministry on Tuesday (27 October). He offered to export wheat to Bangladesh on a government-to-government (G2G) basis, and proposed a Russian-funded wheat silo at Moheshkhali in Cox's Bazar.
The minister said the offer of state-level wheat imports from Russia would be reviewed and a decision given later. On Moheshkhali, she said land is scarce around Cox's Bazar, so a suitable site for such large infrastructure may be hard to find; unused land at Payra port, which already has port infrastructure and transport links, could be considered instead.
As she explained it, such a silo would let wheat imported from Russia be stored in Bangladesh. Later, the stock could be sold to the country's private wheat importers for the local market, and the government could also buy from it when needed. From Payra, she added, wheat could move easily to key transport and supply hubs including Narayanganj and Baghabari in Sirajganj.
To test the proposal, the minister invited the ambassador to visit Payra port. Seeing the site, she said, would make it easier to decide on a location, the infrastructure and how the project could be carried out.
Present at the meeting were the Russian embassy's First Secretary Anastasia Nemova, Food Secretary Abu Taher Md Masud Rana, Directorate General of Food Director General Md Jasim Uddin Khan and other officials of the ministry and its agencies.
Photo: Food Minister Afroza Khanam inspecting the grain silo in Chattogram (10 October 2026), Press Information Department / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
Source: Krishi Sangbad
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