Russia has extended its 20% export duty on soybeans until the end of August 2028, the Interfax news agency reported on Thursday.

The soybean duty had been scheduled to expire at the end of August this year, meaning the extension keeps the levy in place for roughly two additional years beyond its previous expiry date.

Interfax also reported that the Russian government is considering an extension of the 10% export duty on linseed, a crop also known as flax. A formal decision on that levy is the next policy milestone for the sector, while the new end-August 2028 expiry date marks the next scheduled review point for the soybean duty itself.

Export duties are an established instrument of Russian agricultural trade policy, typically used to regulate outbound shipments, support domestic processors and livestock producers, and moderate domestic prices for key commodities. Russia has applied comparable measures across its farm sector before, including duties on grain exports and levies on other oilseeds such as sunflower seed. Russia is a major global supplier of agricultural products, and changes to its export measures on grains, oilseeds, and pulses are closely followed by international commodity markets as well as the freight and shipping sectors.

Soybean cultivation in Russia is concentrated primarily in the country's Far East and southern regions, with much of the Far East crop shipped to neighboring China, the main destination for Russian soybean exports. Russia nonetheless remains a comparatively small soybean exporter relative to dominant global suppliers such as Brazil and the United States. Flax, the other crop named in the report, is used in food, feed, and industrial applications, and Russia ranks among the world's leading producers and exporters of the crop.

The report was published in the Freight News section of Hellenic Shipping News on 21 August 2026, citing Investing.com. The original reporting is attributed to Interfax, a Russian news agency.