Image by Arzy Arzamas
Russia is now an agricultural powerhouse, finally reverting back to its pre-revolutionary role as a major wheat exporter. It now seems the Russian government wants to capitalize on this new-found status by creating a new ‘OPEC-like’ organization that would work to stabilize pricing globally for the commodity.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Gordeyev suggested setting up an organization of grain exporters similar to the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) during talks in Germany on Saturday, his press service said in a statement, reported Russian state news agency TASS.
“Vice premier Alexei Gordeyev came up with a proposal to create an OPEC-type organization for grain exporters in order to ensure the stability of the grain market, coordinate grain prices and tackle famine,” the statement says.
The initiative was voiced during a meeting with German Minister of Food and Agriculture ·Julia Klockner and Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia Armin Laschet on the sidelines of the ANUGA-2019 exhibition in Cologne. According to the Russian official, the future organization “could include Russia, the European Union, the United States, Canada, Argentina, other nations.”
During Soviet times, Russia’s grain production fell drastically from the tsarist period due to the slaughter of anyone with agricultural knowledge, as they were considered ‘bourgeois’. 100 years passed before Russia reached the same level of grain production.
Something Americans considering a new socialist future should remember.
1 comment
This is an interesting concept. Something I’d like to know more about.