RF agriculture ministry to elaborate intervention stock grain use measures.
(c) 2010 ITAR-TASS
MOSCOW, May 18 (Itar-Tass) - Russia's Ministry of Agriculture will elaborate mechanisms to use grain from the country's intervention stock on the domestic market, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov said on Tuesday at a meeting with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
"Now we are in a situation when we have rather big grain surpluses," he said. "If 18 months ago the price was nearing 400 U.S. dollars per ton, now it is 180-185 U.S. dollars, or twice as low."
Grain storage is not cheap, and this grain cannot be sold at advantage, the prime minister noted and asked if this grain could be used on the domestic market, "for instance in animal farming."
"We have instructed the Ministry of Agriculture to elaborate extra mechanisms to use the intervention stock. We will consider these mechanisms in the nearest future to make the maximum use inside Russia," Zubkov noted. "Almost 30 percent of our intervention stock is feed grain, i.e. 3.5 out of 10 million tons," he said and added that this grain should be used inside the country. "It is necessary to look into the economic aspect so that the state was not at a loss," he added.
He also said the government had decreed to sell one million tons of grain from the intervention stock, primarily, to Asian countries. "We shall take measures to sell this million there. At the same time, we set a task, and many regions have coped with it during the sowing season, to grow more crops that we traditionally import. These include beans, corn, lupine, etc."
"The state has taken all risks and big money - almost 38.5 billion roubles." Zubkov noted. "Thus, we have removed these surpluses from the market, we are spending a billion roubles a month to provide storage of this grain. We are working with regions. I hope we will find a way out soon."
"We really helped agricultural producers when we bought out this grain, but, no doubt, we shall not act in a way leading to systemic budgetary losses," the prime minister stressed. "And it goes without saying that we must take such steps that would quadrate to our current economic situation, and the situation on the world market. Decisions can be rather bold or daring. The main thing - they should be beneficial," Putin summarized.
23.05.2010, 2741 просмотр.
