Russia's grain exports could total 55-60 mln tonnes for agro year; must account for supply pressure on prices - Putin

MOSCOW. May 18 (Interfax) - Russia's grain exports could total 55-60 million tonnes for the current agricultural year from July 2022 to June 2023, though supply pressure on prices must be taken into account, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday at a meeting on agribusiness.

"It is expected that grain exports will total about 55-60 million tonnes upon the results of the 2022-2023 agricultural year. Meantime, we must of course take into account that there is currently a fairly large supply of grain on the global market that is pressuring prices substantially and affecting the further plans of our agricultural producers," Putin said.

According to Putin, this must be taken into account in order to prevent a decrease in the area sown with grain going forward.

According to the president, spring fieldwork is currently underway in almost all of the country's regions.

"They are operating as usual; and the key task, as usual in these conditions, and even today amid the external restrictions, is to meet the needs of agricultural producers in terms of seeds, plant protection products, as well as mineral fertilizers. Here [providing mineral fertilizers], we are the global leaders ourselves. I think that there should be no problems here, though operations must be organized accordingly. The same applies to equipment and fuel and lubricants," Putin said.