First Deputy Agriculture Minister Oksana Lott said her country aims to harvest about 130 million tonnes of grain annually on average and export up to 55 million tonnes.

Moscow has been able to boost its grain exports despite the refusal of some countries to buy Russian grain because of the conflict in Ukraine, she said.

Speaking on the sidelines of an industry forum on Friday, Lott said: "Despite the decline in the number of buying countries, our sales volume has increased; we don't care about the number of countries, we care about good partnerships."

Russia currently exports about 80 percent of its grains to the Middle East and North Africa, with Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Algeria being the top 5 buyers, according to the head of the Russian Grain Exporters' Association Eduard Zernin.

Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said earlier this week that the grain harvest would reach at least 123 million tonnes in 2023, while total cereal exports would be between 50 and 55 million tonnes in the 2023-2024 season.


Black Sea Agreement

Last week, the Black Sea grain export agreement was extended for two months, allowing for the safe export of Ukrainian agricultural products.

But Moscow says it wants to see more progress in implementing the parts of the deal package that affect Russia, including reconnecting the Russian Agricultural Bank to the SWIFT global remittance system and restarting an ammonia pipeline between Russia and Ukraine.

For its part, the Group of Seven on Saturday called on all participants in the agreement to export Ukrainian grains through the Black Sea "to continue its full implementation smoothly, as much as possible and as long as necessary."