Canada to purchase grain from Russia

Canada will buy grain in Russia this year, Russian Senior DeputyAgriculture Minister Anatoly Mikhalev announced at pubic hearings in theRussian Trade and Commerce Chamber today. He specified that the volume ofthis deal might be 12.6m Canadian dollars, or more than 8m US dollars.According to the deputy minister, Canada decided to purchase grain fromRussia due to a bad harvest in Canada for two years in a row. Mikhalevreported that preliminary negotiations had already been completed and thesides were working on final documents now.The Deputy Agriculture Minister stated that grain exports from Russia hadamounted to 5 million tons in 2001 and were set to rise to 10 million tonsthis year. Commenting on problems hampering grain exports from Russia, theofficial mentioned railroad tariffs and regulations stipulating the returnof VAT payments within two months instead of a year..