Bayer Says Next Crop Supplies to Russia Will Depend on Peace

(Bloomberg) -- Bayer AG, the agriculture giant, suspended advertising and investments in Russia and said crop supplies for the 2023 growing season will depend on the country “returning to a path of international diplomacy and peace.” 

The German company, which also sells prescription medicines, said it had to separate between non-essential products and life-saving ones that it will keep providing. 

“Withholding essential health and agriculture products from the civilian populations -- like cancer or cardiovascular treatments, health products for pregnant women and children as well as seeds to grow food -- would only multiply the war’s ongoing toll on human life,” Bayer said Monday in a statement on its website. 

The company said it has already provided essential inputs to farmers in Russia for the 2022 growing season to alleviate additional pressure on the global food system. But for the next season, it plans to monitor the political situation and decide “depending on Russia stopping its unprovoked attacks on Ukraine and returning to a path of international diplomacy and peace.” 

Bayer has about 700 employees in Ukraine and is donating health products like antibiotics to help patients there. 

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