Russia stops selling grain reserves

Russia has put off the sale of state reserve grain indefinitely, the grain that is expected to be used in assistance for drought-stricken areas.

This comes in an official press release by the Russian Agricultural Ministry.

The Ministry also claims that at the moment Russia plans no restrictions on grain exports.

Earlier the Ministry planned to sell over 3 million tons of fodder and food grain in the so-called commodity interventions, but has now decided to specify the demand for grain, given the recent proclamation of a state of emergency in Russian regions owing to forest fires and drought.

The First Deputy Russian Prime Minister Victor Zubkov said that quotas would be set for each drought-hit region to get their share of the 9.5 million tons of the state reserve grain.