Georgia to replace Russian wheat with Kazakh grain

Georgia will partially replace Russian wheat with Kazakh grains as the Russian wheat export tax is doubled per tonne starting today, announces Executive Director of the Georgian Flour Producers Association Levan Silagava.

Russia rose its wheat export tax from €25 to €50 per tonne of wheat from March 1 to June 30.

Silagava said that the import of Ukrainian and Romanian wheat is also being considered.

He said that Georgia constantly has at least two months wheat supply and will not face a wheat shortage.

This year it was predicted that 150,000 tonnes of wheat and 80,000 tonnes of barley would be harvested in Georgia.

Statistics show that last year 87.3% of the wheat imported to Georgia (430,236 tonnes) came from Russia.

Also last year Georgia purchased 56,248 tonnes of wheat from Kazakhstan, 6,000 tonnes from the USA, 230 tonnes from Iran and 45 tonnes from Turkey. These are the top five wheat importers to Georgia.

In Georgia, about 80-100,000 tonnes of wheat are harvested every year, which covers less than 10% of the overall consumption countrywide.