ISLAMABAD: The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has decided to purchase Russian wheat at the price of $390/tonne, while the tender may be cancelled if they do not accept the offer.
Finance Minister Miftah Ismail presided over the meeting of the ECC where it was observed that there is a declining trend in the price of wheat, which may further reduce in the coming days.
The ministry of national food security and research submitted a summary on the supply of milling wheat from Russia on a government-to-government basis.
It was informed that in compliance with the decision of the federal cabinet by the ECC on May 28 for the import of 3 million tonnes of wheat, the Trade Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) initiated the process of import of wheat from the Russian government on G2G basis.
In this context, a memorandum of understanding was signed between Russian SOE and TCP on June 8. Initially, the government of Russia offered a wheat price of $410/tonne.
A committee was constituted by the prime minister office under Adviser to the prime minister on foreign affairs Tariq Fatemi to negotiate the issue of wheat prices with the Russian Embassy.
Meanwhile, the Russian delegation met with the minister for commerce and offered a reduced price of wheat at $405/tonne, which was further reduced to $400/tonne.
Consequently, the ministry of national food security and research on the recommendations of the ministry of commerce submitted the price offered by Prodintorg, a state-owned company of the Russian government at $399.50/tonne for the supply of 120,000 tonnes +/- 5 per cent MOLSO of milling wheat through G2G arrangements for the consideration of the ECC of the cabinet.
However, as the prices of wheat in the international market are on a decline, the government wants further reduction from the Russian side.
Federal Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir Khan, Minister of State for Petroleum Musadik Masood Malik, Special Assistant to the prime minister on Government Effectiveness Dr Muhammad Jehanzeb Khan, Coordinator to the prime minister on Economy Bilal Azhar Kayani, federal secretaries and other senior officers attended the meeting.
