Real progress towards establishing BRICS grain exchange expected by Kazan summit - Russian Deputy FM Ryabkov

MOSCOW. April 25 (Interfax) - Real progress towards establishing a BRICS grain exchange is expected by the time of the association's summit in Kazan, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister and Russia's Sherpa in BRICS Sergei Ryabkov said.

"We have put forward this idea [establishing the exchange], there is great interest in it, [and] we need to work out the technical aspects now. I think that by the time the leaders gather in Kazan, we will be able to note some real progress," Ryabkov said at a press conference in Moscow on Thursday.

The summit is scheduled to take place in Kazan in October this year.

"As for the implementation of the president's instructions to create such a platform, regardless of whether all BRICS member states join it or not, I am completely convinced that these instructions will be implemented," he said.

"The subject of exchange-traded commodities [and] exchange nomenclature undoubtedly requires great attention in the BRICS format, taking into account, among other things, and perhaps above all, the fact that all member states of the association today are both the largest producers and the largest consumers of the majority of exchange-traded commodities traded on commodity exchanges," Ryabkov said.

As reported, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government and the Russian Central Bank to submit proposals for establishing an agricultural exchange with the BRICS countries by July 1, 2024. This is primarily a matter of establishing a BRICS grain exchange. The proposal for such a trading platform was voiced at the president's meeting with representatives of the agricultural sector in Stavropol. Putin backed this initiative. Russia officially presented an initiative to its BRICS partners to establish a BRICS grain trading platform at the first meeting of the BRICS working group on agriculture, which took place in April via videoconference.

"Foreign partners welcomed the initiatives and planned events of the Russian presidency and noted the importance of strengthening multilateral cooperation in the agricultural sphere," Roscongress said in a statement following the meeting.