Prime Minister Vladimir Putin asked fertilizer makers to keep prices for domestic farmers at the lowest possible level because of the drought in Central Russia, during a meeting Tuesday night with Acron chairman Vyacheslav Kantor.

Kantor agreed on behalf of the Russian Fertilizer Producers Association not to raise prices, according to a transcript of the meeting posted on the government web site.

Joint ventures should be created for raw materials, such as potash and phosphate, that are now controlled by a small number of suppliers to allow complex fertilizer producers to keep prices low, Kantor told Putin.

Acron has $4 billion of investment projects, Kantor said, according to the web site.