Russia Has a New Wheat-Exporting Champion: Its Government (1)

For the first time ever, Russia’s government has become the biggest exporter of the country’s ever-expanding wheat crop.

The government has played a bigger role in the market after state-controlled VTB Group entered the business in 2018, spending more than $2 billion on assets including trader Mirogroup Resources, port terminals and a rail-freight operator. The move to create a domestic grain champion has increased competition with private exporters and international merchants like Cargill Inc.

In the season that ended in June, state-controlled Mirogroup and United Grain Co. shipped out a combined 5.3 million tons of Russian wheat, accounting for almost ...