The Russian Ministry of Agriculture intends to increase the volume of exports of agricultural products to $50 billion by 2024, said Minister of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev. “I think that we are capable of this task, we must work actively,” Tkachev said on the Rossiya 24 channel .

In 2017, Russia exported $20.1 billion worth of agricultural products. Tkachev recalled that in 2000, the volume of exports of Russian agricultural products was only $1.5 billion.

“There are also objective things, since we are part of the global economy, and we naturally must take into account both pricing and the challenges that exist in food production. But by increasing exports, we will increase the capitalization of the industry and attract investment into it,” the minister said.

One of the promising export areas now is flax growing, Tkachev noted. After some time, linen will become the calling card of Russia, he is sure. “Twelve Russian regions, relying on this production, can create a good economy for themselves,” the minister said.

Earlier, the International Grains Council raised its forecast for Russian grain exports in the 2017/18 agricultural year (lasting from July to June) by 1.7 million tons to 44 million tons. Thus, Russia could become second in the world in grain exports.

Tkachev spoke about plans to increase the export of Russian agricultural products to $50 billion