BELOKURIKHA /Altay Territory/, March 3. /TASS/. Russia’s new region may produce 4-6 million tons of grain and 2-3 million tons of sunflower seed a year, Vladimir Petrichenko, director general of the ProZerno analytical center, told TASS on Friday on the sidelines of the Winter Grain Conference.

"These regions (the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions - TASS) have a vast potential for the production of wheat and sunflower seed. They are wheat and sunflower regions and it has a major importance for our sunflower oil and wheat market. <…> [The potential] for grain can be estimated at 4-6 million tons," he said. "And as for sunflower - around two million tons now and more than three million tons in the future."

In 2021, before these regions acceded to Russia, they accounted for 13% of Ukraine’s grain, including 23% of wheat, and 20% of its sunflower seed.

Touching upon the 2022 harvest in these regions, the expert said it was "quite big." However, he noted that the low prices for products from the new regions are a challenge for the Russian market. "Until there are no statistics there, these regions will have grey economy and, hence, low prices," Petrichenko noted.

The Altai Territory, one of Russia’s leaders in terms of grain production, is hosting the Winter Grain Conference from March 1 through 3. Held since 2008, the forum is the biggest platform for the forming of the development of the agrarian sector’s strategies. The conference in being attended by more than 160 companies from Russia and Kazakhstan.