MOSCOW - Russia has been granted permission to export wheat to Saudi Arabia, Interfax news agency cited Russia's agriculture watchdog as saying on Friday.

Reuters earlier reported that Saudi Arabia planned to relax its bug-damage specifications for wheat imports from its next tender onwards, opening the door to Black Sea imports and strengthening ties with Russia beyond energy cooperation.

(Reporting by Maria Tsvetkova Editing by David Goodman) ((maria.tsvetkova@thomsonreuters.com; +7 495 775 1242;))