St. Petersburg, May 19 (IANS): Russia plans to export up to 60 million tonne of grain in the current agricultural year, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting on spring fieldwork.

According to a press statement issued by the Kremlin, Putin added on Thursday that by the end of the agricultural year 2022-2023 (from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023), Russian grain exports are expected to reach about 55 to 60 million tonne.

The Russian President noted that despite the barriers in foreign trade, Russia was able to increase the export of agro-industrial products to $41.6 billion last year. In general, the development of the Russian agro-industrial complex shows a positive trend, Xinhua news agency reported.

Russia is one of the key suppliers of agricultural products in the world. According to the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, in the agricultural year 2021-2022, Russia exported 38.1 million tonne of grain, including 30.7 million tonne of wheat.