Jakarta. More Russian wheat is expected to come to Indonesia once a trade deal with the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) is in force, according to a Russian envoy on Wednesday. 

Russian Ambassador to Indonesia Sergei Tolchenov said the upcoming accord would benefit Moscow’s wheat exports. Wheat -- a mainstay ingredient in instant noodles production -- makes up quite a huge chunk of what Indonesia buys from Russia.

“This free trade agreement will help us bring more grain and wheat to Indonesia. They will also be cheap,” Tolchenov told a press conference in his Jakarta residence.

Tolchenov said he had read the entire trade pact documents, which detail the types of commodities that would get lower or zero tariffs. He, however, refused to disclose the exact agreed tariff rate on Indonesia-bound wheat. 

Asked whether the EAEU would want to stick to the timeline of closing the deal by the end of this year, the envoy said that it would all depend on the internal procedures of the governments involved.

“Every country is sovereign. It is independent, and they’ve got their own views and procedures. If everyone manages to finalize these internal procedures, we will do [the signing] in December,” Tolchenov said.

Indonesia and the EAEU -- which comprises Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan -- are currently putting the final touches on an upcoming free trade agreement that will ease tariff barriers after reaching a substantive conclusion of their trade deal with Indonesia earlier this year. 

Foreign Minister Sugiono recently said that the trade pact will be signed in Russia in late December.  

According to the Trade Ministry, Indonesia’s imports of Russian cereals, particularly wheat, reached $379.8 million in value last year. They made up nearly 17 percent of the Southeast Asian country’s shipments from Moscow.

Cereal imports from the world’s breadbasket plummeted almost 84 percent year-on-year in January-August 2025, down from $273 million to $44.4 million. Indonesia-Russia trade totaled nearly $3.3 billion in the first eight months of 2025. 

The government reported that Indonesia’s overall trade with the EAEU grouping reached $1.57 billion in the first quarter of this year.

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