10 June 2004 05:31
CIS needs single agriculture market - Gordeyev
MOSCOW. June 10 (Interfax) - The creation of a single agriculture market for the Commonwealth of Independent States
will be crucial for the functioning of the commonwealth, said Russian Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev.
Gordeyev, who is also chairman of the CIS agriculture and industry
council, told a roundtable session in the Federation Council on
"The CIS has not been effective in the area of integration and economy management. This concerns agriculture and
industry as well,"
Thursday.
He criticized some CIS nations for their uncoordinated efforts on the food markets, including their trade in sugar
and poultry.
Russia ensures nearly 60% of its sugar needs by importing raw sugar, primarily from Brazil, whereas most of its sugar
imports used to arrive from Ukraine and Belarus. Gordeyev said these two nations, and some other CIS countries, have
also lost Russia as a major market for their poultry. Russia imports more than $1 billion worth of poultry a year, and
its major supplier is the United States. [RU EUROPE EEU EMRG POL] tm tl
[Interfax] |
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