UPDATE: Ministry cuts Russia’s 2018 grain harvest forecast to 106 mln tns

(Adds data on grain transportation subsidies in last three paragraphs)

MOSCOW, Jan 31 (PRIME) -- The Agriculture Ministry has lowered its forecast for Russia’s 2018 grain harvest to 106 million tonnes from 110.6 million tonnes projected earlier, a ministry official told PRIME on Wednesday.

“The planned figure of the state program is 106 million tonnes,” he said.

In 2017, Russia had a record high grain harvest of 134.1 million tonnes.

Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachyov said that the government will subsidize grain transportation by rail from regions to ports for exports annually.

“The mechanism has started working, and we will actively apply it, I believe each year,” he said.

In December 2017, the government decided to provide subsidies to Russian Railways for grain transportation at a preferential tariff from 13 Russian regions to southern, northwestern, and Far Eastern ports until the end of 2018. The volume of grain transportation from these regions is estimated at 3.18 million tonnes.

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