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Alexander Tkachev, Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation sees the positive effect of the introduction of the food embargo in response to Western sanctions. According to his comments, the Russian counter sanctions became a stimulus for the development of agriculture in the country.
The ban on food imports has not led to a shortage of products on the domestic shelves and today the situation on the food market is stable, said the head of the Ministry of Agriculture.
This year compared to last year, consumer price inflation is much lower. This is due to the successful replacement of some volumes of food import by domestic production, as well as the limited purchasing power of the population.
The extention of the agricultural activities within the country allowed not only to reduce Russia’s dependence on imported food, but also to begin export, the minister added. According to Tkachev, food embargo should be extended after December 2017.
“In order to further promote import substitution, increase the competitiveness of the domestic production of agricultural products and ensure the state food safety, the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation considers as appropriate to extend the special economic measures”, – said the head of the agricultural Ministry.
Another public person, a member of the Agro-Industrial Union of Russia Alexander Khamidullin, commenting on the proposal of the Agrarian Ministry to increase the state financial reimbursement for the projects on construction of big dairy farms, said: “We have a shortage of milk. When the crisis began and the sanctions were imposed we were all sure that this would last for a short time, and no one was in a hurry to grow. Today, when these conditions have strengthened, it is necessary to support dairy farming and production of dairy products, because dairy is one of our failures”.