Medvedev: 2015 grain harvest at 100 mln tonnes attainable
MOSCOW. Oct 1 (Interfax) - Russia is approaching the forecast indicators for the grain harvest in 2015, at the 100-million-tonne level, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said.
"Overall, we are approaching the forecast for the grain harvest, somewhere at the level of 100 million tonnes, which in general is a good harvest for our country," Medvedev said at a government meeting on Thursday.
The harvest this year will be smaller than last year's. "It is understandable why: there were drought problems in 11 regions," he said.
Revenue from Russia's grain exports exceeds its revenue from arms exports, Medvedev said, and might catch up with revenue from hydrocarbon exports.
"As is well-known, our country may get $15 billion from arms exports, but it gets $20 billion from agricultural exports. We somehow forget about that, but we are already to a large degree an agricultural country, toward which we have striven for quite some time," Medvedev said.
The foreign currency revenue from export of agricultural production "is potentially on track to take the place occupied by hydrocarbons," he said, adding: "In any case, if not now, then after some time."
Regardless of crises, "food consumption on the planet is increasing, and this is an objective trend," Medvedev said. "This will continue in the future," he said.