OREANDA-NEWS.  Transcript: Dmitry Medvedev: Good afternoon to everyone who can see and hear us today. We are holding this videoconference today to discuss current agricultural issues, the most pressing of them.

I propose to begin by discussing the grain balance and grain prices. Although the gross harvest was 25% down last year compared to the year before, Russian farmers harvested enough grain for the domestic market and even for export: we have already exported 13.5 million tonnes. However, a decrease in reserves has a negative impact on the grain supply to the domestic market. I’d like to say in this respect that this is why we have approved commodity interventions. In October last year, grain auctions were held in some regions of the Siberian, Urals and Far Eastern Federal Districts. As of January 30 this year, over 1.5 million tonnes of grain worth 13 billion roubles have been sold. This has produced a certain effect, although not the entire effect, for obvious reasons. I have decided that grain from the intervention fund should also be sold at other trading venues, including in the European part of Russia.