Russia exports 21 mln tonnes of food this year, gearing toward national currencies - deputy PM

MOSCOW. Dec 22 (Interfax) - Russia, despite restrictions, has exported 21 million tonnes of food and 14.5 million tonnes of fertilizers this year, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko said on NTV's Pozdnyakov program.

"That is, despite the presence of sanctions, essentially a logistics war with us, prohibitions on settlements, disconnecting us from the interbank system, trade in food and mineral fertilizers continues. It's difficult. We are overcoming these difficulties. But trade is underway," Abramchenko said.

Moreover, an experiment involving settlements in rubles was held with Turkey in the fall. "This is an experiment for now, rather than a rule. Our central bank is working with all friendly countries in order to employ a settlement mechanism in national currencies. That is, in principle, it is possible. The first experiment was successful," Abramchenko said, noting that Russia trades in food with 150 countries. "This is a fairly large number of states, and these are states where populations are growing the most. And these countries are friendly in relation to the Russian Federation," she said.

Russia predominantly exports grains and vegetable oils, Abramchenko said. "But the array of food is expanding all the time. For example, we already have concrete success in meat product supplies in Asia," she said. Turkey and Egypt have become key areas of export this year.

According to the Agriculture Ministry, exports of Russian agricultural products could reach $40 billion this year compared to $37.1 billion in 2021.