VLADIVOSTOK (Sputnik) – Russia does not plan to change its wheat export tax procedures in the near future, the country’s Minister of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev announced on Thursday.
"Not yet, while the situation on the market is unstable, the formula will be in force," Tkachev told journalists on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) when asked whether or not the grain export tax mechanism would be changed in the near future.
The tax, in force since July 1, charges exporters at least 50 rubles per every metric ton of wheat. Since its introduction, the export of wheat from Russia has decreased 2.2 times.
The minister stressed that if the export tax did not exist, the prices for bread in Russia would be growing constantly.
Russia plans to export a total of 25-30 million metric tons of grain this year, according to Tkachev.
Russia was the world’s third-largest wheat exporter last season, according to Bloomberg calculations.
