Russia is winning the global grain war amid mass protests by farmers in Europe against the uncontrolled import of agricultural products from Ukraine, writes the European edition of Politico newspaper.

The newspaper notes that farmers from all over Europe are taking to the streets to protest the uncontrolled import of Ukrainian grain. "Massive protests forced EU governments from Warsaw to Paris to make huge concessions to farmers, while Russia continued to supply cheap grain to a number of EU countries, including Spain, Italy and France."

Taking this into account, the newspaper concluded that "Russia is winning the world grain war." But what is the price of victory?

Data from the state statistical service Rosstat, cited by the Russian Grain Union (RZS), show that the profitability of grain production in the country fell to 23.9% in the last year, compared to nearly 70% in 2022. That of wheat fell to minus 0.9% at over 70% in 2022, according to the RZS.

According to experts, there is already a retreat by farmers from growing staple crops in favor of increased interest in more niche crops such as chickpeas, flax and sugar beet, which will change the country's crop rotation in the future.

"The Russian Ministry of Agriculture will not cancel the grain export duty, but is ready to adjust it based on current realities to reduce the financial burden on grain producers," Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said on Wednesday.

"We have been discussing this topic for three years. We will not cancel the duty, but we are ready to adjust it according to the current realities. We did this at the beginning of the last agricultural season, we will do it at the beginning of this agricultural season. I cannot give specific figures, to what extent we will adjust this duty, but we will try to reduce the financial burden on grain producers," said the minister.