The Ministry of Agriculture proposed to temporarily ban the export of durum wheat from the Russian Federation

The Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation proposed to ban the export of durum wheat from the country from December 1 this year to May 31, 2024. This follows from the department’s prepared resolutionswhich is posted on the portal of draft regulatory legal acts.

The initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture provides for exceptions, including the supply of wheat for the provision of humanitarian assistance, within the framework of intergovernmental agreements, transit transportation, “in order to support the activities of military units.”

In particular, the proposed ban does not apply to the export of wheat to Belarus “within the Union State,” Abkhazia, and South Ossetia.

The project assumes that the Ministry of Economy must notify the Eurasian Economic Commission about the introduction of the ban. Control over ensuring the conditions of the ban should be exercised, in particular, by the Federal Customs Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Border Service.

According to preliminary data from Rusagrotrans, Russia exported 5 million tons of wheat in October, exceeding the volume of supplies for the same period in 2022 (4.88 million). At the same time, exports decreased by 7% compared to September this year. Kommersant’s sources in early October reported a slowdown in exports due to the need to follow the prices recommended by the Ministry of Agriculture.

Read more in the Kommersant article. “Grain buckled under demand”.