OREANDA-NEWS  Export duties for Russian wheat and meslin (a mixture of wheat and rye) will increase by 40 percent from October 16 — from 1,328.3 rubles to 1,872 rubles per ton. This was announced by the Ministry of Agriculture.

The duty on barley will increase from 229.5 rubles to 392.8 rubles per ton, and on corn — from 2,696.7 rubles to 2,827.2 rubles per ton. Grain rates will be valid until October 22 inclusive and are calculated from indicative prices.

Earlier, the deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee for the Protection of Competition, Sergei Lisovsky, linked the problems with sowing winter crops not with the drought, which the Minister of Agriculture Oksana Lut complained about, but with "predatory" duties. In his opinion, the fees have led to too low grain prices within the country and negative profitability for farmers.

Lisovsky recalled that the problem with drought, which is a common phenomenon for autumn, does not prevent farmers from sowing rapeseed, because profitability is positive there. And in order for the same situation to be in wheat, government fees will have to be reduced. "It is necessary to abolish duties and support the village," the deputy concluded.