Drought effects on Russian crop worse than expected

The Russian Agriculture Ministry said Tuesday that the abnormal heat and forest fires this summer had led to a damage of 1.3 billion U.S. dollars to the Russian economy.

Over 13.3 million hectares of the country's grain crop, estimated as one third of the harvest, were destroyed because of the summer disaster, which was worse than the previously expected 10.3 million hectares.

According to the ministry, 24,861 businesses in 41 regions also suffered losses caused by summer disaster.

However, authorities insisted that the domestic need of 77 million tons will be met.

The Russian government imposed a temporary ban on grain export, which afterwards triggered a global rise in grain prices.

Source: Xinhua