President Putin does not need to worry about 2003 harvest

Vladimir Putin does not need to worry about this year's harvest." "There is no threatening situation with the harvest. Moreover, I hope this year Russia will retain its considerable export capability and I think we will be able to replenish our grain reserves," the President told reporters in Rostov on Don.

"There is no threatening situation, nor there will be, in the country as a whole and even in the regions, including the southern ones," Putin said, replying to a question about the grain situation in the south.

According to the President, the harvest this year in some regions of the country, above all in the south, is poorer than it used to be in the past few years. At the same time, he noted, "in other regions, beyond the Urals and in Siberia, the harvest is pretty good." In his view, the main question is in the export capability and also in "how this situation will be used by the local authorities and businessmen who work in farming and trade in agricultural produce." Putin called on the administration of the southern region of Russia "to watch closely the situation, so that it would not be used for increasing the prices of bakery products."