Russia drought, food loss spur inflation

YALTA, Russia, Oct. 2 (UPI) -- Russia's drought is beginning to cause inflation, Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin said Saturday.

"In the beginning of the next year, the drought's influence will start to decrease and the prices will flatten out," Kudrin told Rossia 24 TV channel.

The Ministry of Economic Development said prices rose 0.9 percent in September.

The heat wave that afflicted European Russia from mid-June to August destroyed 30 million tons of grain. The drought cut grain crops by a third, the potato harvest by 24.4 percent, and vegetables by 6.1 percent, RIA Novosti reported.

Russia imposed a ban on wheat exports in August. President Dmitry Medvedev has said the ban may be lifted after next year's harvest, but not this year's.