Russian store shelves are about to see the domestic brands ousting their foreign competitors, with a new state program aimed at guaranteeing food security.
There are two main steps to be taken to put the program into practice. The first is to cut imports and stimulate domestic production as well as accumulate reserves of strategic food products to make sure that no fluctuations in world markets of food affect the domestic market.
These main products are milk, meat, sugar and grain. In terms of grain, Russia already is doing quite well – 95% of all grain is domestically produced and Russia’s exports of grain is quite large.
But in other indicators it’s not doing so well. Milk is only 17% domestically produced and meat 36%. There are different reasons for that, one of the major is that Russia does not have a large meat producing industry. The doctrine signed today means that already existing farms can get long-term loans, subsidized by government, to expand the network.
Meat available in Russia is mostly imported, but there are some problems with that, as well. Often the meat does not comply with Russia’s health standards. Pork, for instance, most of which is imported from South America or the U.S., often is of better quality and cheaper than locally produced meat.
This is all supposed to change in 10 years with this new set of guidelines that will eventually become law.
Interestingly, in 1997 Russia’s Duma passed a similar bill, but then-president Boris Yeltsin did not sign it, saying that the country does not have the financial means to implement these reforms effectively.
In the wage of the global economic crisis world food prices suddenly drastically increased, so governments all over the world have realize that food stability is really a key to democracy.
Slowly stepping out of the crisis Russia’s economy is improving and the country is trying to create more stimulus for agriculture reforms and to attract foreign investment into the sector.
RT
