Between August 2023 and mid-February 2024, Russia exported 442 thousand tons of sugar by rail, a threefold increase from the previous season. Kazakhstan was the largest buyer, followed by Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Despite this, sugar reserves in Russia remain high, with production expected to surpass 6.8 million tons. Evgeniy Ivanov, a leading expert of the Institute of Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR), argues against a potential ban on sugar exports outside the EAEU, stressing the need to maintain established market niches and provide traditional partners with small quotas.