BRICS countries back grain exchange idea, Russia says

The BRICS group of countries have supported an initiative to set up a grain exchange, Russian Minister of Agriculture Oksana Lut said on Friday. The exchange would allow buyers to purchase directly from producers and has been backed by Russian President Vladimir Putin ahead of a BRICS summit to be held in Russia in October. “We will work together with our colleagues on creation and development of this platform and the development of the possibility of settlements in national currencies of the BRICS countries,” Lut said after a meeting of…