MOSCOW, March 21. /TASS/. Russia will supply grain to other countries instead of Turkey, which is a normal market situation, the Russian President’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

"The grain market is not limited to Turkey alone. It is large, quite stable and autonomous part of the global market. The closure of some segments on this market means that some quantities will flow into other segments," the Kremlin spokesman told reporters. He added that "this is a normal economic process."

Peskov added that "the Agriculture Ministry is working intensively to protect the interests of Russia farmers."

Turkey excluded Russia from the list of countries free of duties for imports of agricultural products starting March 15. Now, Russia and some other countries are not on the list of states with duty-free imports that can deliver commodities for further processing and export free of payment of the duty amounting to 130%. Previously Russian exporters and their Turkish customers imported grain meant for processing and further export with zero duty, while they still had to pay a 130% duty in order to sell products locally.

Turkey is Russia’s second-biggest grain importer in volume terms after Egypt.