MOSCOW, July 18. /TASS/. Russian grain companies lost about $1 bln during the implementation of the grain export deal, Russian Grain Union President Arkady Zlochevsky said.

"If we do the math, we will see that we lost over $1 billion this season as the deal was being implemented in the past year. These are the losses of grain producers alone. I’m not talking about the losses of fertilizer manufacturers as they were expected to get some compensation," he told a TASS-hosted press conference.

"Of course, everyone expects discounts to disappear. We have been working hard for ten years, since we entered the market in 2002, seeking to get rid of discounts. However, the discount was smaller back then, about $10," the Russian Grain Union president added.

The grain deal came to an end on July 17. Russia refused to extend it again because the part of the deal envisaging the removal of obstacles for Russian agricultural exports had not been implemented. Apart from that, Moscow has repeatedly stressed that the bulk of grain that was meant to be supplied to the poorest counties was shipped to Western countries. Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow was ready to resurrect the deal but only after its part related to obligations to Moscow was fulfilled.