Russia now world’s fourth largest agricultural exporter – Putin

Russia is now one of the major agricultural exporters in the world, President Vladimir Putin has said while meeting with Russian farmers.

On Tuesday, the president arrived in Stavropol Region, southern Russia, where he met with the employees of the Solnechny Dar greenhouse complex of the Eco-Culture agro-industrial holding.

“We have become the fourth country in the world in terms of exporting agricultural products, and the first in the world in terms of [exporting] wheat,” Putin said, noting that revenue from such exports on the global market amounted to $43.5 billion. Russia is also one of the leaders in terms of meat production, he added.

According to Putin, this is the first time in the country’s history that the agricultural sector has achieved such results. At the same time, the president noticed the need to boost production of tomatoes and some other types of products, so as not to depend on imports.

Russian food exports have been growing at a rapid pace, statistics show. The country has been the world’s largest exporter of grain in recent years thanks to bumper harvests and attractive pricing, despite Western sanctions that have hampered the nation’s foreign trade. Russia has also been supplying free grain to a number of African countries that are facing food insecurity.