February 10, 2011

Russia to carry on with grain interventions for now

Russia has decided to carry on grain interventions for now and monitor the impact, a Kremlin official said Wednesday (Feb 9) after talks with President Dmitry Medvedev, who had earlier ordered to halt the tenders.

"The government will continue to fulfil the decisions that have already been taken. Within the next two weeks (the government) will analyse how the auctions are going, how this influences the prices and the situation of the regional producers and take the final decision," Kremlin's top economic aide Arkady Dvorkovich said.

The comments came less than an hour after Medvedev ordered a temporary suspension of the government grain intervention sales tenders, saying they boost corruption.