Russia plans emergency measures after devastating spring frosts

The Russian Ministry of Agriculture plans to introduce a federal emergency situation due to May frosts, which have led to significant crop losses in the country's key black soil regions, reports The Moscow Times.

Department head Oksana Lut stated that the duration of the emergency—which will allow agricultural enterprises to receive insurance compensation—has not yet been determined.

According to the Russian Grain Union, the spring frosts have affected crops in 23 subjects of the Russian Federation, resulting in an estimated loss of 20 million tons of grain yields. By the end of the year, the harvest may reach 142 million tons, although the initial forecast ranged from 156–162 million tons.

"A total of 1.5 million hectares of sown areas have been affected," said union head Arkady Zlochevsky at a press conference. "We have not had these late return frosts for more than 100 years. The losses are already quite significant," he lamented.

"The frosts happened late, and there is practically no time left for reseeding. If reseeding takes place, it means late harvesting and depends on the passing conditions during the harvesting works, we may miss more, part of the crop will go under snow," listed Zlochevsky.

In eight regions of Russia, a regional state of emergency has already been declared due to the frosts. These include the regions of Lipetsk, Voronezh, Tambov, Volgograd, and Oryol. The frosts also affected other major agricultural regions—from Kursk and Rostov to Saratov and Penza.

"The problem is not only in frosts, but also in the fact that agrarians sought to save money on plant protection products – this led to a critical impact of bad weather on crops," notes Andrei Sizov, general director of Sovecon.

According to him, the weather crisis will likely result in a series of bankruptcies for agricultural producers, who are already burdened by export duties. This could be followed by land redistribution.

"Russian agrarians had a rather large margin of safety, on which the record harvests of the past two years were laid, but the consequences of the introduction of duties are beginning to take effect," says Sizov.