Russian meat production to grow 23% by 2020
In an email read to delegates at the Agrofarm livestock exhibition in Moscow, Skrynnik praised the progress made by Russian agriculture in recent years, adding that 3,500 livestock facilities had been built or upgraded to use modern technology since 2006.
“The ministry shall take all necessary measures to increase the investment attractiveness of the livestock production capacity and competitiveness of Russian products to ensure the population has access to food and export development,” she said.
The minister mentioned that the industry attracted RUB576bn ($19bn) of investment credits in the 2006-2011 period, on top of RUB120bn ($4bn) of government subsidies.
She added that the government’s 2013-2020 programme would represent over RUB700bn ($23.2bn) of support for the livestock industry, leading to a 23% increase in meat production. The result will be a rise in exports, especially of poultry and pork, reaching an expected 400,000 tonnes, Skrynnik said.
Russia recently joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO), but kept the right to impose import quotas to improve the competitiveness of its own products. Additionally, the government has decided to allocate an extra RUB6bn ($200m) a year to support the pig processing industry.
“The main task is now to increase the competitiveness of domestic agriculture. To this end we are able to increase state support to up to $9bn in 2012 and 2013. This is 1.5 times more than planned for 2012,” the minister added.
