The government has allocated more than 9.7 billion rubles from the reserve fund to subsidize rail transportation of agricultural products at preferential rates. The corresponding decree was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
The mechanism has been operating since 2019. The Ministry of Agriculture annually determines the volume of goods that can be transported at a discounted rate, and the state compensates Russian Railways for revenue losses. The support extends to grain, oilseed products, vegetable and fish products, as well as mineral fertilizers — the range is wide enough to cover the bulk of agricultural exports.
The reason for the unscheduled allocation of funds is direct. The limits on preferential transportation have been exhausted, and the consideration of applications for 2026 has been suspended. At the same time, restrictions on shipping in the Sea of Azov forced farmers to rebuild routes: the flow went to the ports of the Black and Baltic Seas, and from Siberia to the Far East. The transportation leverage has increased, and transportation costs have increased along with it.
The scale of the task sets the harvest. According to estimates by Agro and Food Communications, the grain harvest in Russia in 2026 may amount to 140-143 million tons, wheat — 88-92 million tons. The export potential in the 2026/27 season is estimated at about 60 million tons. In case of interruptions to export routes, part of this volume remains in the domestic market and puts pressure on prices.
Ksenia Bolomatova, Executive Director of the Union of Grain Exporters and Producers, noted that subsidized tariffs compensate for the increase in transportation costs associated with an increase in the range of transportation and help maintain profitability of enterprises with high yields.
What should exporters and traders do now? To clarify with the territorial division of the Ministry of Agriculture and the rolling stock operator whether applications for a reduced tariff have been resumed and for which nomenclature groups the limits remain. Recalculate the route economy taking into account the subsidized rate: the difference between the regular and preferential long-haul fares to the Far Eastern ports changes the decision on the direction of shipment. And submit applications at the beginning of the quarter — according to the practice of previous years, the limits are selected quickly.
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