MOSCOW, August 31 (RIA Novosti) – Russian authorities do not plan to introduce restriction measures on exporting grains, Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorokovich said on Friday.
“While I’m supervising this area, I will be against any export restriction on grain. We do not plan to take these measures. I mean future agricultural years,” Dvorkovich said.
Russia’s Agricultural Minister Nikolai Fedorov supported this decision.
“No export restrictions are planned. Any restrictions on export are hazardous, inappropriate and lead to a deterioration of the situation including the domestic market due to the reaction of foreign markets to any such restrictions. So we will work with the tools that we have. First of all intervention tools and elements of information that give us the opportunity to clearly predict the situation and form reasonable prices,” Dvorkovich said.
According to Fedorov, the experience of taking such a measure and expert opinion on the introduction of restrictions on export only leads to a deterioration of the situation for grain producers. “This ‘concern’ about the Russian consumer through restrictions turns out that we affect the interests of the consumer by increasing prices for Russians. Therefore it is not highly profitable, it is not desirable and we are not considering such an option, especially taking into account the interests of the Russian consumer.”
Russia has exported 4.0 million tons of grain since the beginning of the agricultural season (from July 1, 2012) compared with 4.9 million tons in the same period last year, according to materials from the Russian Agriculture Ministry, citing data from the Federal Customs Service.
The Ministry of Agriculture is projected to export 10-14 million tons this year in total compared to 27.15 million tons last year.