Moscow will fill the world with grain – MK

The French Foreign Minister said that after Russia’s victory over Ukraine, Moscow can take control of 30% of world wheat exports. And French wheat, according to him, will be under threat on world exchanges. And that such a volume of Russian grain on the market threatens inflation and a food crisis in France.

Europe was once again frightened by the new formidable Russian “weapon,” as some Western politicians dubbed Russia’s active grain exports. They say that previously our country influenced the world with its raw materials – oil and gas, and now – after the introduction of sanctions on fuel supplies – it dictates its will with the help of grain.

Things are getting to the point where there are calls from unfriendly capitals to completely ban the transit and export of grain from Russia. In general, there is panic in the European Union because of the success of Russian peasants, and at any moment Western farmers will be squeezed out of world markets.

Yes, here honor and praise go to our farmers; they, one might say, without any fight, consolidated their position in the world market, regardless of any sanctions. Last year, about 147 million tons of grain were harvested. And in the period from July 1 to December 31, almost 39 million tons of grains and legumes were sold abroad – almost 20% more than the previous export record set in 2021.

Although, by and large, the world’s grain-producing countries do not dream of the laurels of championship in grain exports. They sow and reap just enough so that they have enough for their own food, and they leave some volumes for exporting their surplus. The developed countries of the world receive income not from the sale of wheat, but from the sale of their cars, airplanes or IT technologies. Ultimately, from the development of their own tourism industry, when each village has completely different class hotels for travelers. Come in and live…

Russia cannot boast of such a service. Therefore, so far it turns out that the locomotive of the economy is the village and its agricultural products.

But some public figures are already calling on us not to relax and not consider ourselves a great grain power. We are leaders in exports, but not in grain production in the world. And shouldn’t we know what could happen if, carried away by the export of record harvests, we lose control over our own market?

This has already happened in the history of the country. And prices rose every day, and the shelves in the stores were empty. Agricultural analysts recall that during the “late USSR”, when the country’s economy was falling apart before our eyes, the Soviet Ministry of Agriculture classified all data on forecasts and use of crops in the country.

This may be an anecdote, but allegedly at one of the press conferences the USSR Minister of Agriculture directly referred to data from the US Department of Agriculture. That in the Soviet Union, they say, a grain harvest of 200 million tons is expected.

Now it’s a different story: Russian agriculture is on the rise. And according to farmers, bans have been introduced on the publication of export data, the grain balance is not published…

One thing is clear: we sell mainly raw materials – grains, and not the final products of their processing: flour or pasta with noodles. We lose surplus value and foreign exchange profits due to this.

We ask Vasily Uzun, Doctor of Economics, Chief Researcher at the Center for Agricultural Policy at RANEPA: is there such a risk of recklessly selling your grain? And are we up to the level of world standards in grain processing?

“The share of revenue from the export of processed grain in the total revenue from the export of grain and grain products in Russia in 2021 was 13%,” he says. – Whereas in Canada and France this figure is more than 40%, in China -75%, in Turkey and Italy – 90%.

– Being carried away by exports, won’t we be left without our grain?

– There is no such danger, there is no need to worry. Enough, and there will be more left! However, an analysis of the processes occurring in 2023 shows that, by selling grain and feed, our farmers were unable to meet their own needs for the production of poultry meat and eggs. This is the result of a policy of increasing the export of grains and feed rather than using them in livestock production. And, accordingly, the export of meat products.

– Are there any numbers?

– A comparison of export revenues from the sale of meat and grain in different countries shows that the ratio of these two indicators is the lowest in Russia. Although it must be admitted that in recent years it has been growing. Thus, in 2021, meat exports accounted for 13% of grain revenues. This is not enough for our country. In other grain-producing countries, revenues from exports of meat and meat products exceed those from grain exports. For example, in Brazil – 3.8 times, in the EU countries – 1.7 times. This is what we need to strive for too.