“I would like to say that 170 billion roubles will be allocated from the federal budget to support the agro-industrial complex in 2012. A portion of this amount – 136 billion – will be used to carry out the state programme for promoting agriculture in Russia. Our goal is to use these funds with maximum effectiveness, have our agricultural producers strengthen their positions and make the agricultural industry one of Russia’s leading economic drivers.”
“According to expert estimates, winter crops are in normal condition. This is a good foundation for the future harvest. Now we should effectively conduct the spring sowing campaign and prepare properly for harvesting grain.”
“As before, agricultural producers will buy fuel at reduced prices. This support measure has a very good track record. Of course, it benefits greatly our agricultural producers. <…> We agreed that wholesale fuel and lubricants prices established in each particular region on December 31, 2011, will be discounted by another 30 percent.”
“On the whole, the agriculture support programme will continue. Now, as you know, we are developing a state programme of agricultural development, and it will provide for financial issues, agricultural equipment development issues, agricultural equipment leasing issues and issues of social development of rural areas.”
“In recent years the situation in agriculture has radically changed. <…> This country (I mean the Soviet Union) had always been a net importer of wheat and cereals, and now we have become the world's third largest exporter following the United States and Canada; our country has definitively gained the third position in the world.”
“In order for us to be able to use these opportunities to the fullest, we should adopt the best practices used by the WTO old-timers, learn to use all forms of support, both direct and indirect, provided to agrarian producers. <…>Our goal is to use them wisely in our development strategy and make them work toward the further promotion of our agro-industrial sector.”
“Last year grain harvest amounted to almost 94 million tonnes, which allowed us to replenish our reserves and not only to fully meet our domestic demand but also to export about 27-28 million tonnes. This is a good figure and we once again rank third place among the world’s top grain exporters. You’ve done an excellent job and we will continue supporting all those who work on land – there is no doubt about that.”
“We protect the agrarian business against abuses by monopoly operators, including infrastructure monopolies. <…> Retail and wholesale agricultural markets will continue to be overseen by the state. Our goal is to facilitate the sale of produce by farmers without the involvement of any middleman.”
“Agriculture has proven to be one of the most lucrative industries in the national economy. <…> The development of our agro-industrial sector has become an objective factor in ensuring the sustainable development of our economy as a whole, and improving the living standards of millions of people.”
“After the drought of the past year and a serious decline in agriculture, we have not only restored the performance of the agro-industrial complex but have even improved the figures from the pre-drought year of 2009. Our tentative estimate is that the industry has grown by 17.8% in 2011 but some experts believe that the final average for this industry will be about 20% when all additional figures are considered. The grain harvest is 93 mln tonnes after processing. And the export grain potential has been restored in full.”
“The domestic farming industry must satisfy the needs of the Russian market and facilitate its steady balance, particularly, in terms of costs. We must only export the excessive grain harvests. Based on this assumption, the government will gradually resume supportive measures in order to secure the position that our grain producers held previously in the global market. But I will repeat it once more: domestic consumption is a priority.”
“This year’s results have shown that the Russian farming industry is becoming steady and well-balanced. We begin to extend the production range and make changes to the system of the rural economy, which means there are new prospects and new standards of living for the people working in the rural area and new prospects for the steady supplying of the big industrial centers. This is our main objective: to ensure a good quality of life in the rural area and to supply affordable domestic produce to big industrial cities.”
“We expect a total of 95 million tonnes of crops this year, with wheat harvest amounting to 60 million tonnes, 18 million tonnes more than in 2010. What does it mean? It means we reached the goal we set for ourselves. It means that such a substantial reserve will cover both the domestic demand and the reserves required for the next year, thus restoring Russia’s position in the global market. In this regard, I would like to say thank you to the workers of the farming industry. This is an excellent result!”
“The methods of supporting agriculture leave ample room for progress, particularly through precisely prioritised long-term development programmes.”
“We can say that we have overcome the agricultural recession caused by the two drought years with exceptional heat, which was the worst last year. We roughly estimate the total grain yield at 90 million tonnes <…> In addition to supplying the domestic market, Russia will also rejoin the world’s leading grain exporters. We certainly owe it to our farmers but don’t forget that the government gave them a hand in hard times, helping not only with the work but also with maintaining development capital.”
“In Russia, the national agricultural policy has always been more than pure economics. It has at all times carried social implications and in many ways determined the potential for the country's development in general. I am positive that if we join the efforts of the government, businesses and public organisations <…> we will be successful.”
“We fully understand that grain export is a strong motivating factor in production, increased harvests, and extended cultivation. It also implies growing investment into logistical improvements and port infrastructure in southern Russia and the Far East. Finally, it is a real opportunity to diversify the structure of Russian foreign trade turnover. According to experts, next year, Russia will be able to export up to 15 million tonnes of grain and retake its place at the top of the world’s grain exporters.”
“Only recently, many people did not take the suggestion seriously that Russia could be a viable exporter. We were net importers. Nobody believed that we could sell grain abroad. And yet we have managed to do so by bringing in harvests approaching 100 million tonnes. In 2007, Russia became one of the top three grain exporters in the world.”
“Today the call to “buy Russian” is<…> a reality: domestic products are returning to stores after a period in which imports had wiped them off the shelves. There are still plenty of foreign imports, but the situation is changing. More and more, people prefer domestic products that have an edge in terms of quality and environmental purity and that are natural products rather than some cheap synthetic surrogate brought in from abroad.”
“We are becoming the masters of our own food and agrarian market step by step. All this is the result of the development of the Russian agro-industrial sector – the tangible result of the work of Russian farmers, livestock breeders, and the food processing industry.”
“Our agricultural producers need effective support this year to harvest good crops. Our aid should address all from major agro-industrial enterprises down to small private farms.”
“We are building effective modern complexes and implementing family farm programmes. Our task is to ensure that Russian farmers become the masters of their own food market.”
“It is necessary to sow quality seeds and strictly follow all the required procedures. The sown areas must be expanded not mechanically, by any means, but in favour of the crops critical for the grain balance. And agricultural producers, of course, should be confident in the government support both on the federal and regional levels. They should be sure that they will be able not only to grow, but to harvest the crops and, of course, sell them at an attractive and economically reasonable price.”
“I must say that this year we need to compensate as much as possible for the losses of the two previous lean years, create a stable grain balance and build up reserves. Moreover, grain is a basic resource for the development of cattle breeding and other areas of agriculture.”
“This country will benefit from the development of the farming sector and from the success of those who want to improve their standard of living in the process. Cultivating land should become a source of pride and of prosperity.”
“Regional and municipal authorities should provide vacant agricultural land to those who want to engage in agricultural production and become farmers on a priority basis. I request that our representatives and supporters in the local authorities be guided by this approach. We cannot allow profiteers and resellers to get ahold of these plots in order to resell them and cash in simply because the land was undervalued on the market. This land should go to those who will cultivate it, for whom agriculture is a livelihood and a source of prosperity.”
“Russian producers are retaking their position on our domestic food market. Despite the hard two-year drought in 2009 and 2010, Russia almost completely met its domestic demand for grain. Russian producers now account for more than 75% of the meat market, and poultry production has doubled over the past five years. If you recall, Russian meat producers accounted for a mere 64% of the domestic market in 2005. And we can certainly be proud of these results. You, the Russian farmers, have made a significant contribution to this success.”
“I am asking the Federal Antimonopoly Service to start investigating cases in which companies have artificially raised fuel prices immediately”.
“Today we made a decision, which we agreed upon with you, the oil companies, to extend mandated discounts on fuel and lubricants for agricultural producers. The discount must be equal to 10% of the price of November 1, 2010, as agreed”.
“We have taken a major decision in the interests of domestic producers – in 2011 we’ll cut poultry imports to Russia practically in half. This was not an easy decision but we’ve taken it with a view to reducing imports in general and strengthening domestic agriculture.”
“We have already implemented serious measures: we have allocated about 40 billion roubles from the federal budget to agro-industrial companies, rescheduled loans and leases and extended the terms of interest subsidies to three years, as you know. <…> I would like to remind you that we subsidise agro-industrial businesses from the federal budget to purchase fertilisers. I propose to earmark no less than a billion roubles for that purpose next year to make total subsidies for fertiliser purchases approach 5.5 billion roubles.”
“It goes without saying that we should back the efforts to create favourable conditions for the qualitative growth of rural entrepreneurship, for more successful projects to appear in the sector. We will therefore selectively abolish superfluous administrative barriers and slash costs for food and raw materials producers.”
“It is essential now that we consolidate the positive trends that have emerged in our agriculture and related industries in the last few years. Weather anomalies must not eradicate these trends and throw our agriculture progress back. This point mainly concerns such key sectors as livestock farming. I am convinced that we can make a breakthrough in increasing milk yields and in the cattle population similar to the progress in poultry and pork production. I want to remind you that poultry meat production increased 77-78% and pork 39% during the previous years. Any industry would take pride in such achievements, just as any country's agricultural sector would.”
“We will prolong the tariff reduction to July 1, 2011 and spread it from grain to soy and soybean meal from the (Russian) Far East. First, we will thus support the regions that must buy grain, including drought-hit areas. Second, reduced transport costs will, I hope, have a positive impact on food prices or at least help curb an increase. This is certainly essential.”
“The harvest fully satisfies the country's demand in grain considering carryover stocks and intervention inventory reserves. We have enough food and fodder grain. Still, we need to suspend grain exports for the time being because the stability of our domestic food market and livestock fodder should be our top priority.”
“We will continue supporting our grain producers and their investment projects; we will use every option at the government's disposal to help them restore their position on the global market. I also hope that our foreign partners will be understanding of our policies in light of what happened in Russia this summer. Most importantly, we will make a concerted effort to create additional stable domestic demand for grain: common sense tells us we should be in charge of our own house and have a reliable base. To do this, we will promote the expansion of livestock production and poultry farming, because these segments are major consumers of grain.”
“We know that grain prices are up both in Russia and the rest of the world. We see that the market is on pins and needles. Whoever is waiting for December 21 or 31 is wrong because whether we lift the export ban depends solely on this year's harvest. The problem is compounded by the fact that Russia's leading farming regions cannot sow winter cereal crops because of the weather, so a major part of the country will begin the new year without winter crops. So it appears that the export ban will not be lifted soon, even though it is, of course, a temporary measure. We are in an emergency and it is our duty to think, first of all, about our own citizens, including farmers.”
“You know that a state of emergency has been declared in many Russian regions. But we will overcome; we will allocate requisite resources to agriculture, as I have said. They will include direct subsidies, grants, government guarantees, loan subsidies, and grain sales, primarily fodder grain, to livestock-breeding farms from the grain reserve, and we will also subsidise the loans our farms will take out to finance such purchases. In all, there is a large package of support measures. We only need regional leaders and farm directors to act quickly and energetically to submit expert substantiation for the size of such support.”
“A state of emergency has been declared in many Russian regions. But we will overcome; we will allocate requisite resources to agriculture, as I have said. They will include direct subsidies, grants, government guarantees, loan subsidies, and grain sales, primarily fodder grain, to livestock-breeding farms from the grain reserve, and we will also subsidise the loans our farms will take out to finance such purchases. In all, there is a large package of support measures. We only need regional leaders and farm directors to act quickly and energetically to submit expert substantiation for the size of such support.”
“Several years ago we set ourselves the goal of ensuring that quality and affordable domestically produced food is available in Russia. We adopted a state development programme for agribusiness and allocated over 300 billion roubles from the federal budget for its implementation in 2008 and 2009. Allocations totalling 107 billion roubles have been approved for 2010. We can say with confidence that this investment and other measures designed to support agriculture have produced the desired result.”
"Poultry breeding has been developing fast in the past few years. It posted a 12% growth in 2009, and now we can satisfy over 75% of the demand. But we still have to import nearly 25%, which is too much. However, I want to say again that we are working hard to replace imports. I hope that government support has contributed to this trend; we have allocated long-term investment loans for the construction of farms and subsidised interest on loans".
"You know that the new law on trade has come into force, stipulating strict deadlines for payments to the suppliers of agricultural products. We have set the strictest deadline for perishables, 10 days, I think. I hope this measure will have a positive effect, and will help to strengthen the financial situation of agricultural enterprises".
"At the same time, we are working not only in the economy but also in the legal sphere. Agricultural producers and companies that process agricultural raw materials want to settle their relations with retail chains. As you know, a relevant law is being considered in the State Duma. This law covers issues of great importance to farmers. One of them concerns payment for delivered products. If the lifetime of bread is 72 hours and is even shorter for milk, money for them should be transferred to the producers without delay or else they will have no working capital, no money to produce these products or for their economic operation. But the money was delayed for a month and even longer. As of now, payment for perishables is to be transferred within ten days, for other products within 30 days, and for spirits within 45 days, but we will reconsider this."
"Agriculture, which some in the previous years called "the black hole" of the economy and so on, is a growth area today. It will grow by 0.5% this year, and in some areas, for example, in livestock, it will grow by 10%. It should have been still greater, but that is how it looks on paper: Last year we had a record grain crop of 108 million metric tons. This year it will be large too, at 93 million tons, but because it is less than last year, on paper the indicators have gone down. But on the whole, I repeat, agriculture will grow by 0.5%."
“We have big support programmes for agriculture, such as tax breaks and subsidies. Last year we issued large subsidies, which covered 60% of spending. Early this year we increased them to 80%, and in livestock breeding to 100%, at the request of farmers and in view of problems due to the economic downturn. In general, I would like to tell all those present here, including farmers, that in 2009 we have issued 700 billion roubles ($24.1 billion) of loans to agriculture through different channels. This is more than ever before, but then, agriculture has never reported such good results before either. We will continue to implement these programmes.”
"The 2012 APEC forum is also a good opportunity to concentrate our resources, solve the many problems of our largest metropolis in the Far East and make the city's residents' lives more comfortable. We can position Vladivostok as Russia's "gateway to the Pacific" and a promising venue for international cooperation."
"The fulfilment of all these plans will enable us to hold an important event - the 2012 APEC forum. This upcoming summit is a significant political and economic event for the entire Asia-Pacific region. Certainly, a successful event will enable Russia to enhance its international standing and will help in making additional contacts with our partners in the region."
"Seasonal changes in production volumes and the balance of purchasing prices are important elements of the dairy market. This problem could be solved through regular purchasing and trade interventions. We plan to approve a Government resolution on this issue today. The state will buy surplus products to prevent a plunge of milk purchasing prices. On the other hand, the sale of previously purchased products will prevent unjustified hikes of retail prices."
“Farmers are anxious to know what will happen to their relationships with credit institutions, with banks. We have already made a decision on this matter that would extend short-term one-year loans by 6 months. We have discussed it. I think it can be extended from 6 to 9 months. It will enable the enterprises to complete the following year, to sell their crop and earn the money that they can use to pay back the loans.”
“Droughts and other emergencies occur practically every year. The current situation is not an exception. We have been developing mechanisms of protecting farmers against such risks. I am referring above all to insuring crops. Federal and regional budgets allocate sizeable amounts to develop it every year. In 2009 the federal budget will allocate 2 billion roubles. Already 970.9 million roubles, almost one billion, are in the accounts of regions. Moreover, new rules for compensating the cost of crop insurance came into force in 2009. The federal budget reimburses to farmers 50% of their insurance premium.”