The meeting was attended by senior officials from the agriculture, economic development and finance ministries, the Federal Customs Service and the Bank of Russia, as well as members of the expert community.

"Today, we discussed the grain market situation based on data obtained from regular monitoring, including current and projected grain supply and demand balances, prices and exports dynamics," Mr Zubkov said while answering journalists' questions.

As of today, 19.6 million tonnes of grain have been exported from Russia, he added.

Meanwhile, the carryover grain stock, including intervention stocks, meets the domestic grain demand in full, Zubkov said. Domestic market prices are stable.

"Based on the updated 2012 harvest forecast of 93.9 million tonnes, the export forecast for the 2011-2012 agricultural year was increased to 27 million tonnes," he said. "In this regard, the government doesn't see any grounds for limiting grain exports in April 2012."

At the outcome of the discussion, the agriculture and economic development ministries were instructed to continue monitoring supply and demand balances, and the grain exports curve and prices on the domestic and international grain markets.