 RUSSIA IN FACTS |
|
Minister says Russia should not import more than 20 per cent of food needs
Berlin, 16 January: Any debate on the problem of food security has ramifications which go beyond Russia itself,
Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Agriculture Minister Aleksey Gordeyev told journalists today at "Green Week"
["Gruene Woche"] in Berlin, one of the world's leading agricultural fairs, where Russia is the biggest
exhibitor.
"We should view food security, price-setting, reserves and grain trade strategy as issues which need to be
discussed between four countries - Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan," the Russian deputy prime minister
believes. He said "the objective is to stabilize prices on the grain market". "Unfortunately, we see
prices continuing to rise both on the world market as a whole, and on the EU market," Gordeyev pointed out.
"Therefore, we need to expand crop areas and ensure that we get a good harvest in 2004."
An 80:20 ratio between domestic produce (80 per cent) and imports (20 per cent) is needed to ensure the
country's food security in traditional types of foodstuff, Aleksey Gordeyev explained. "In a number of areas
we are not keeping to this ratio," he observed. In this connection, Gordeyev called for "a reduction in
Russia's imports of all types of meat, especially poultry, as well as some dairy products".
| | |
|
|
