Russia will harvest 85 million tons of grain this year and export 15 million tons, First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov predicted on Tuesday.
"We've calculated that the Russian Federation may get a harvest of about 85 million tons of grain this year," Zubkov told President Dmitry Medvedev.
Russia, once the world's third largest wheat exporter, will lift its grain export ban from July 1, imposed last August after a record heat wiped out more than a third of its harvest.
The country harvested a bumper 97 million ton crop in 2009, and it normally needs 78 million tons to cover domestic consumption.
Zubkov said that Russia would have a grain carry-over of 18 million tons by July 1, 2012.
MOSCOW, May 31 (RIA Novosti)
