Russia to consider fate of grain export ban after Oct 1
MOSCOW – Russia plans to discuss after October 1 whether to extend a grain export ban into next year, First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov told Reuters, after a severe drought ruined vast tracts of the country's grain crop.
The ban comes into force on Sunday and is due to last until December 31, a move designed to restrain domestic food prices because of the worst drought in more than a century - which has also caused forest fires and left Moscow blanketed in smoke.
"After October 1 we can discuss how to act after December of this year," Zubkov said in an email sent on Saturday.
Zubkov's statement follows contrasting remarks by Russia's leadership on the ban. President Dmitry Medvedev has said the ban could be lifted earlier if the harvest permits.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said it could last into 2011, after announcing the grain crop could be as low as 60 million tonnes.
Russia harvested 97 million tonnes of grain in 2009, and it needs 78 million tonnes to cover domestic consumption.
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