August 23, 2010

Russia dismisses talk on grain imports

Russia, affected by a record drought which has destroyed a quarter of its crops, has no plans for grain imports this year, said the agriculture ministry on Friday (Aug 20), rejecting reports it would do so.

"We do not plan to import grains," agriculture ministry spokesman Oleg Aksenov said.

On Thursday (Aug 19), the Vedomosti daily, citing a source close to the top of the agriculture ministry, said Russia could import at least five million tonnes of grain, mainly from Kazakhstan. The report pushed grain prices sharply higher.

Aksenov dismissed the report and said, "We are not in any negotiations with Kazakhstan."

Aksenov suggested that the Vedomosti's report could have been planted by "dishonest people" seeking to manipulate the market.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said recently the record drought, along with raging wild fires, had destroyed a quarter of this year's harvest, which he put at 60-65 million tonnes compared with 97.1 million tonnes in 2009.

Aksenov said that even this reduced harvest should be enough for domestic needs because the country still held reserves from last year.