EU to raise tariffs on Russian, Belarusian grains - Commission

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission has prepared a proposal to raise tariffs on Russian and Belarusian cereals, oilseeds and derived products and will announce the measures on Friday, the head of the Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Thursday.

"We have prepared a proposal to increase tariffs on Russian and Belarusian imports of cereals, oilseeds and derived products and there are several good reasons for making this proposal," von der Leyen told a news conference.

"It will prevent the Russian grain from destabilising the EU market in these products, it will stop Russia from using the revenues from exports of these products to the European Union and it will ensure that illegal Russian exports of stolen Ukrainian grain do not enter the EU market," she said.

(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski)