OTTAWA (Staff) – For the first time in more than two years, Russia may be in the market for some Canadian grain later this winter, deputy Russian prime minister Alexander Zaverukha said last week.
During an Oct. 5-6 visit to Ottawa, he met both agriculture minister Ralph Goodale and Canadian Wheat Board chief commissioner Lorne Hehn.
“We were mentioning the possibility of purchasing some grain,” Zaverukha said through an interpreter at an Oct. 6 news conference in the Russian embassy. “It is too early to talk about quantities or prices.”
He said purchases would be cash rather than credit and would be arranged by private companies in Russia, not the state.
He said whether Russia comes into the market or not depends on the size of the Russian harvest, although this year it is smaller than usual.
