ST. PETERSBURG, June 6 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's grain harvest this year could be 80-90 million tons, with 20 million going to exports, President Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday.
"This year's harvest could total from 80 to 90 million tons of grain," Medvedev said at a meeting with agricultural business representatives at the World Grain Forum in St. Petersburg.
In 2008, Russia saw a record high grain harvest - 108 million tons.
Earlier today, Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik said the grain harvest in Russia in 10-15 years could total 135 million tons. Speaking about possible exports for this year, she named the figures of 40-50 million tons.
Arkady Zlochevsky, the president of the Russian Grain Union, asked Medvedev for state support.
"We gained a place on the grain market, we are a stable and reliable supplier... Now we face the task which is very important to us - to retain these positions," he said.
"What we have gained needs to be retained, while in conditions of a very tough competition this is far from easy without state support," he said.
Medvedev said that opinions vary on whether state support to agriculture is necessary, and added that Russia will introduce modern business models in the sphere. "We will introduce such models in this country," he said.
