KALININGRAD, March 2. /TASS/. Russian agricultural exports exceed arms exports in money value and are a fantastic result, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
The domestic grain harvest above 134 mln tonnes "is the figure beyond thought even for the Soviet Union," the president said. "We have become the world’s first by wheat export and the second in the world by grain export. This is also fantastic, just like the weapons I mentioned yesterday [on March 1 in the State of the Nation Address - TASS]," the head of state said.
"[I] was thrilled to announce that we sold agricultural products in the same amount as arms - $15 bln" just a couple of years ago, Putin noted. Last year, "we sold arms in the same amount of $15 bln, while agricultural companies sold their products on the international market in the amount above $21 bln," the president said. "That is, there is an upswing," Putin said.
The government allocates fairly significant subsidies for processing development in the Russian agricultural sector because Russia needs to manufacture domestically as much products as possible, the president said. "We plan to sell more than we purchase in in the soonest possible time," Putin added.