MOSCOW, December 25. /TASS/. Since the beginning of 2023, Russia has exported food worth $43 billion, which is 14% more than in the same period last year, Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said in an interview with the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.

"This year, Russian agricultural exports are actively growing, although many Western countries are trying to put a spoke in the wheels of our foreign trade. Since the beginning of the year, we have already sold food worth $43 billion. This is 14% more than in the same period last year," he said.

The minister noted that traditionally grain accounts for the largest share in the structure of exports (about 38%). Russia remains the world leader in wheat supplies. By the end of 2023, the volume of exports of Russian agricultural products will amount to more than $45 billion.

"This will be another historical record for our country. Next year, taking into account the good harvest and positive dynamics of production in the main areas, we expect that the current high export figures will remain," Patrushev noted.

In the current conditions Russia’s priority is to develop trade with friendly countries, the minister said. If in 2021 they accounted for 73% of supplies of Russian agricultural products, in the current year their share is already 87%. In the coming decades, it will be friendly states that will increase food purchases at a faster pace. Russia expects an increase in supplies to the countries of Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Latin America and the post-Soviet space.

"I am convinced that Russia will always be a good partner and guarantor of food security for them," the minister concluded.