ROSTOV-ON-DON, southern Russia, September 29 (Itar-Tass) – Russia is strengthening its positions in the world market. The president of the National Union of Grain Producers, Pavel Skurikhin, says that the Grain Russia-2011 international conference, which is taking place these days, provides a convincing proof of that.
"More than 250 delegates from 20 countries are attending the conference, an unprecedented number for this kind of event. Turkey has sent 80 people to the conference. Its plans are ambitious. Turkey wants to triple flour production in the next few years and counts mainly on Russian grain,” Skurikhin went on to say.
He said the participants in the conference had come to Rostov-on-Don with specific tasks. “We saw how representatives of grain producers, grain processors and consumers were actively engaged in talks. Even if they haven’t struck any deals on the sidelines of the conference, they are definitely going to do that after all the details of the deals have been finalized,” Skurikhin explained.
He emphasized that grain exports remained an important income item and a source of currency revenues for the Russian state budget. Skurikhin called for consolidation of Russian positions in world grain markets.
The president of the National Union of Grain Producers said his task was to create cooperative marketing associations of consumers for the purpose of streamlining the sales of grain, including exports, to put big and small producers in an equal position and to be able to pursue a common grain policy.