Azerbaijan to buy 200,000 tonnes of Russian grain

Azerbaijan said on Tuesday it would buy 100,000 tonnes of grain and 100,000 tonnes of flour from Russia in the next two months to cover domestic shortages after a poor harvest last year.
Azeri first deputy Prime Minister Abbas Abbasov told reporters pricing details were still being discussed, adding that the country planned to build up solid stocks of grain before March, when the first crop forecast for 2004 might emerge.
Heavy rains damaged crops in Azerbaijan in 2003, when it harvested only 1.9 million tonnes of grain instead of a planned 2.3 million tonnes.