Russia’s Putin talks wheat, fertiliser and logistics in Kazakhstan

Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the development of wheat and fertiliser cargo transport routes in Asia during a visit to Kazakhstan on Thursday, as Russia seeks to forge new export routes due to Western sanctions.
Chairing a conference on agricultural cooperation with Kazakh President Tokayev, Putin said Russia would have about 60 million metric tons of wheat available for exports from this year’s strong crop.
He called for further development of shipping routes to large Asian markets such as China and India.
Western sanctions on Russian banks and companies have made it it more difficult for Russian exporters to ship grains and arrange payments, although the sanctions do not specifically target such commodities.
Moscow has also reportedly asked exporters to adopt a minimum wheat export price in order to protect farmers’ income, though the functioning of the semi-official scheme is unclear.