At the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (June 18–21), Russia will launch formal consultations with BRICS countries on creating a grain exchange. Moscow promotes the project as a tool to strengthen its position in the global agricultural market and bypass Western sanctions.
The initiative aims to boost Russian influence over the Global South. The Kremlin sees the grain exchange as a first step toward a broader commodities platform for oil, metals, and gas.
Russia envisions the new platform setting an "independent" grain price within BRICS, reducing the role of Western traders and the dollar, and enabling transactions in national currencies.
However, the initiative is unlikely to gain real traction. China, Iran, Belarus, and India are so far reluctant to participate actively due to the risk of secondary sanctions and potential loss of access to global markets. Without their economic engagement, the project is likely to remain purely declarative.
On May 28, 2025, Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service reported a significant drop in wheat exports from Russia.
