Tajikistan will face severe food shortages if Kazakhstan prolongs its wheat export restrictions beyond June 17:07, april 15Author: Asia-Plus Kazakhstan's decision to ban wheat exports is really bad news for the country’s poorer Central Asian neighbors, which get some 90 percent of their wheat imports from their northern neighbor, says an article posted on Radio Liberty’s website on April 14. Central Asian Neighbors to Feel the Pain as Kazakhstan Suspends Wheat, Flour Exports says Kazakhstan also imports relatively inexpensive wheat from Russia to use domestically and to resell to other countries. But Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter, temporarily banned grain exports to its fellow members of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, and Armenia -- in March. The Kazakh Agriculture Ministry now says it will limit wheat and flour exports to 1 million tons and 300,000 tons, respectively, for three months starting on April 15. It’s not clear if the restrictions will be extended beyond that date. The Russian government said it was suspending wheat, rye, barley, and maize exports until June 30 to “protect the domestic food market in the face of external constraints” amid harsh Western sanctions.