SOCHI, May 31. /TASS/. Russia can export up to 70 mln tons of grain, including around 53 mln tons of wheat in the current agricultural season (July 1, 2023 - June 30, 2024), Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev said.

"This season we plan to export up to 70 mln tons of grain to global markets, including around 53 mln tons of wheat," Patrushev said.

The Deputy Prime Minister recalled that at the end of last year Russian farmers harvested about 150 mln tons of grain. Russia once again confirmed its status as one of the world's leading grain producers, supplying 12% of the world's wheat and 14% of its barley. According to him, such a base allows us to meet our own food security goals and further develop exports.

He added that the forecast for grain harvest in Russia in 2024 has been maintained despite the frosts - at least 132 mln tons, including around 85 mln tons of wheat, which will allow exporting up to 60 mln tons of grain in the new agricultural season.

Patrushev noted that in accordance with the presidential decree on national goals, by 2030 the Russian agro-industrial complex should increase production by 25%, and agricultural exports should grow 1.5-fold compared to 2021.

He added that solving these problems largely depends on the development of the grain industry. In particular, the volume of foreign grain supplies should reach 80 mln tons by 2030. "The plans are very ambitious, but I am absolutely confident that they are feasible," Patrushev said.

Patrushev also called the initiative to create a grain exchange at the level of the BRICS countries promising. "If successfully implemented, the exchange can become a platform for trading grains and other types of food," he said.

Patrushev noted that in 2023, on behalf of the President of Russia, 200,000 tons of grain from Russia were sent free of charge to African countries. Despite the sanctions and the withdrawal of foreign traders from the market, Russia is not reducing its exports, but increasing them. Now every fourth batch of wheat on the world market is of Russian origin, he emphasized.