OTHER NEWS - Sept. 14, 1992

Russia to Cut Grain Imports: President Boris Yeltsin said Russia’s bountiful harvest will cut the need to seek grain from abroad by 60% this year. Grain threshing has been completed on 70% of cultivated land, and the yield is the highest in five years, Yeltsin said. The grain harvest is a sensitive issue in Russia, where bread is one of the few affordable staples. Yeltsin has already ordered the creation of a federal grain reserve to help prevent speculation in grain during the transformation to a market economy. The president estimated the total grain harvest this year at 121 million tons, compared to last year’s 97 million tons. He said the government will probably have to import between 7.7 million tons and 11 million tons, a 60% reduction from the 27.5 million tons imported last year.