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Govt has no plans to restrict grain export in 2012 - Putin

“According to the information I have there is no need to impose any restrictions in the near future,” he said

NOVO-OGARYOVO, March 19 (Itar-Tass) — Russia’s government has no plans to restrict grain export in 2012, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told a meeting with his first deputy Viktor Zubkov, who is in charge of the agricultural sector, on Monday.

“According to the information I have there is no need to impose any restrictions in the near future,” he said.

“We have all opportunities not to impose any restrictions for further grain export that as we planned may reach 27 million tonnes,” Zubkov said noting that grain carryover stocks and grain production total 94 million tonnes.

“We believe that as of July 1 we will have 15 million tonnes of grain that will meet our domestic demands, therefore the current situation on the market is stable,” he said.

“I think that grain exporting companies may easily conclude contracts for April, May and June,” Zubkov said. “I think this is right, because this will help regions in the Urals and Siberia, where we created privileged conditions for grain shipment, to export some more grain.”

“The thing is that today the global prices are rather high and this will exert a favourable effect on our agricultural producers’ financial position,” he said.

Speaking about the intervention fund’s opportunities for restraining the prices on the domestic market, Zubkov noted that in April-May some 1.5 million tonnes of grain can be marketed in southern Russia if need be to keep prices stable.

“In the north-western region we can also market up to 1 million tonnes in April-May, this will stabilize the prices on the domestic market. Of course, this is very important to curb the food inflation that registered the lowest growth of 4.1 percent last year,” the first deputy prime minister said.