MOSCOW, April 17. /TASS/. Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a decree to boost the export quotas for fertilizers until May 31, the cabinet said on its website on Sunday.

"Current export quotas for Russian fertilizer producers have been temporarily increased by almost 700,000 tons," the cabinet said in a statement. "Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin has signed an order to that effect."

"The decision will be in force through May 31, 2022," the statement said.

The export quota for nitrogen fertilizers has been increased by 231,000 tons to about 5.7 million tons, according to the government website. The export quota for compound fertilizers has been increased by 466,000 tons and now stands at about 5.6 million tons. Until May 31, quotas do not apply to the supply of fertilizers to the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The measure is necessary to support fertilizer producers who face the risk of downtime due to low demand in the domestic market and the sanctions by unfriendly states, according to the statement.