The heads of the three regions proposed to Putin to limit the participation of foreigners in the export of grain

The governors of the Krasnodar Territory, the Stavropol Territory and the Rostov Region proposed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to legally limit the participation of foreign companies in the export of Russian grain, which is exported through the “shadow links of the chain,” according to the documentary “Grain” on the Russia 1 TV channel. The content of the letter, which the heads of the “grain” regions sent to the head of state, leads RBC.

In the document, the heads of the three entities proposed limiting the maximum share of direct and indirect participation of non-residents in agricultural companies, primarily those involved in the export of grain, to 20%. In addition, the governors are asking to oblige the owners of agro-industrial enterprises to transfer parent companies from foreign jurisdictions to the Russian one.

According to RBC’s source, it also follows from the letter that foreign traders buy up to 30% of exported grain from producers in the Russian Federation and about 40% more when shipped in ports. “This leads to a decrease in the export price, financial losses for producers and the budget,” the source said.

The governor of the Stavropol Territory, Vladimir Vladimirov, described the current situation on the grain export market as “pumping money out of our agriculture.”

“70% of our harvest is traded by foreign companies, and we, the Stavropol Territory, are 15% of all Russian grain exports. It turns out that only on the example of the Stavropol Territory, roughly speaking, 9% of Russian exports are already global companies,” Vladimirov said.

As a result, according to him, profits remain with foreign companies, since after buying grain in Russia, they trade it on the stock exchange.

At the end of September the chapter VTB Andrey Kostin addressed to President Putin with a proposal to restrict the activities of grain traders associated with unfriendly states on the territory of the country. As Reuters wrote with reference to Kostin’s letter, he proposed to ban the purchase of grain and oilseeds by companies owned by persons associated with unfriendly countries. Chapter proposal VTB also includes a ban on the ownership of Russian firms that load grain at ports and store grain.

“Exporters from unfriendly countries own about 15% of the transshipment capacity of Russian ports in the Azov-Black Sea basin, which allows them to derive additional profit from the trade in Russian grain, while the Russian economy and budget receive significant revenues,” Kostin said in a letter. The proposed ban, in his opinion, will give Russia “a fundamentally different level of influence on market pricing.”