Russia\u2019s 2025 harvest has turned out to be the worst in more than 17 years due to spring frosts, extreme heat, and drought, putting the country at risk of losing its status as the world\u2019s largest agricultural exporter, according to Ukraine\u2019s Foreign Intelligence Service (SZRU).<\/p>\n
In June alone, wheat exports fell fourfold to 1.12 million tons; in July, grain shipments to foreign markets were 2.1 times lower than in the same period of 2024.<\/p>\n
The SZRU recalled that in 2016 Russia was among the world\u2019s top wheat exporters, with grain exports remaining one of its few sources of economic strength and international leverage following the invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvery year, only from the temporarily occupied territories of our country, the occupying authorities remove, by various estimates, around three million tons of grain. The year 2025, together with Western sanctions, has exposed the weak points of Russia\u2019s wartime economy: the high key interest rate of the Russian Central Bank, growing domestic demand, low global grain prices, and high logistics costs led to a 14.6% decline in Russian agricultural exports in the first half of 2025,\u201d the statement noted.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the country has been increasing food imports, which rose by 14% (to $20.6 billion), whereas in 2023 the trend was the opposite: exports grew by 4.3% ($43.1 billion), while imports fell by 1.7% ($35.1 billion).<\/p>\n
Due to the shortage of its own agricultural products, Russia was forced to import potatoes from China worth $49.4 million\u2014six times the 2024 level\u2014and apples worth $12.4 million, a 50% increase compared to 2024.<\/p>\n
\u201cDespite stabilization measures in the sector and zero unstable duties on wheat, barley, and corn exports, the negative trend in exports is expected to persist,\u201d the intelligence report stated.<\/p>\n
Falling foreign exchange revenues will complicate the Kremlin\u2019s ability to meet state targets, including the plan to increase agricultural exports to $55 billion by 2030. As a result, Russia may ultimately lose its status as a global agricultural power.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":150124,"menu_order":0,"template":"","newscat":[9],"newstag":[],"issues":[],"class_list":["post-150123","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","newscat-novosti"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/150123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"newscat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newscat?post=150123"},{"taxonomy":"newstag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newstag?post=150123"},{"taxonomy":"issues","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ldaily.ua\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issues?post=150123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}