MOSCOW, RUSSIA — A Russian official has proposed creating a grain organization similar to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Interfax news agency reported, citing sources in the official’s office.

The official, Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Gordeyev, has pushed for the creation of a “grain OPEC” before. He was agriculture minister for 10 years, up until 2009. 

Leading grain exporters could form the group, Gordeyev said during a meeting with German Agriculture Minister Julia Kloeckner in Cologne, Germany, Interfax said. He said agriculture ministers should discuss global coordination during an upcoming Green Week exhibition in Berlin.

Interfax said Gordeyev told the meeting that the “grain OPEC” would aim to ensure stability on the grain market, coordinate price policy and solve world hunger problems and might include Russia, the European Union, the United States, Canada, and Argentina, among others.