Russian grain harvest reaches 90 mln tonnes, could rise more - Medvedev
GORKI. Oct 14 (Interfax) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he was pleased with this year's harvest.
"The grain harvest has already reached around 90 million tonnes, and we could gather even more - 95 million tonnes," Medvedev said in a meeting with agricultural workers.
"Good, and one could even say record harvests were obtained from soya and rape, and a quarter more sunflower was gathered than in 2009 - around 8 million tonnes," Medvedev said.
"There are excellent forecasts for the sugar beet - we are counting on a harvest of 40 million tonnes. That is almost two times bigger than last year. We have not yielded such a high figure in the entire history of this crop's harvest," he said.
However, Medvedev warned against rushing to conclusions, instead urging workers to gather the entire harvest first.
Russia already "has solid supplies that can meet domestic demand and generate reserves, including carryover reserves," Medvedev said.
In addition, "Russia has become a sugar exporter for the first time, already delivering around 50,000 tonnes abroad," Medvedev said.
Such figures are "very pleasing," he said.