Russia's Agrarian Party Boss: Bumper Crop Harvest Is No Solution For Sectoral Headaches

At a RIA Novosti press conference, Agrarian Party leader Mikhail Lapshin cited an update on cereals harvested in Russia. To him, the grain bunker weight now stands at 93 million tons and granary weight at between 83 and 84 million tons. Now Russia is fully self-sufficient, with a surplus, as regards food grain and, in the opinion of the agrarian boss, faces an opportunity for export. But, he added, this is no solution for many financial problems. "It is my warning that gross harvest overweight should not make us too happy. We should not see everything that is going on in the agricultural sector through rose-tinted glasses", Lapshin warned. In this connection he reminded of his party's intention to go on pressing for a national referendum on land, which will raise the question of a ten-year moratorium on the purchase-sale of farmlands. For that an initiative group will again be set up, he said. Asked by journalists, Lapshin voiced the doubt that the Land Code, adopted by both the parliamentary chambers, may resolve all problems and attract investments. "The mechanism of purchase-sale of land will wipe out the peasantry as a class. The peasant must become the real owner of land", he argued.