Russia to send 100,000 tonnes of wheat in humanitarian aid to Syria

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia plans to send 100,000 tonnes of wheat in humanitarian aid to Syria this year, government officials said on Tuesday. A source at the agriculture ministry has said Russia has been considering sending around 100,000 tonnes of wheat to Syria from government stocks. "I can't say how much, but soon, including this year," Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, who is in charge of the agriculture sector, told reporters on Tuesday. He did not give any further details. The government order on the supply is expected to be signed in the upcoming days and will include mainly fourth class wheat from state stocks in Siberia, a ministry source told Reuters. "We will be able to send it this year but they will probably receive it only next year," the source added. Russia's agriculture ministry declined to comment. (Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov and Olga Popova; writing by Katya Golubkova and Polina Devitt; editing by David Evans)