Ministry of agriculture: for 6 years of the embargo, imports of dairy products have decreased by a third
According to Minister of agriculture Dmitry Patrushev, the most important result of recent years is the creation of tens of thousands of jobs in the agricultural sector. "The opening and intensive development of agricultural enterprises throughout the country has significantly improved the employment situation in rural areas. Moreover, today, when Russia, as well as the whole world, is facing various consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, the agro - industrial complex is a donor of jobs for other sectors of the economy and is ready to accept specialists from various fields, including high-tech areas", said the Minister of agriculture.
Over the past six years, Russia has reduced food imports by a third – from $ 43.3 billion in 2013 to $ 30 billion in 2019. Thus, for pork, it has decreased almost ten times – if in 2013 the country imported this meat for 2.6 billion dollars, in 2019 - only for 270 million dollars. As for cattle meat, imports decreased 2.5 times, from $ 3.2 billion to $ 1.3 billion, poultry – almost twice, from $ 911 million to $ 410 million, vegetables and dairy products – by a third. Imports of tomatoes decreased by 42.1% from 1.1 billion to 639 million dollars, apples and pears – by 50.8% from 1.2 billion to 586 million dollars.
Positive development of the agro-industrial complex and self-sufficiency in many indicators allowed us to change the development paradigm from an import-substituting model to an export-oriented one. Russian agricultural exports increased one and a half times and amounted to 25.6 billion dollars at the end of 2019 against 16.8 billion dollars in 2013. In particular, there was a significant increase in deliveries of meat and fat-and-oil products, food and processing industry products abroad. Russia has become one of the leaders in the supply of wheat, vegetable oil, fish, sugar and a number of other categories.
Among other things, due to these measures, Russia has seen a significant increase in production of the main types of crop production — cereals (from 92.4 million tons in 2013 to 121.2 million tons in 2019), sugar beets (from 39.3 million tons to 54.4 million tons), soybeans (from 1.5 million tons to 4.4 million tons), vegetables in winter greenhouses (from 538 thousand tons to 1.14 million tons), fruits and berries in agricultural organizations, peasant farm holdings and individual entrepreneurs (from 678 thousand tons to 1.18 million tons) and other crops.
Significant progress has also been made in the field of animal husbandry. For example, production of pigs for slaughter in live weight in farms of all categories increased from 3.6 million tons in 2013 to 5.03 million tons in 2019, poultry production - from 5.2 million tons to 6.7 million tons.
"Thanks to the work of our farmers and effective state policy over the past six years, the volume of agricultural production has increased by 22.4%, and the industry as a whole has become one of the drivers of the Russian economy. Together, we have managed to change the perception of agriculture as an unprofitable and risky industry in many ways, and to create an understanding in the business environment that it is a modern, high-tech and profitable business. At the end of last year, the profitability of agricultural organizations reached 13.3%, which is almost twice as high as in 2013. Today, we note a stable inflow of Russian and foreign capital, even from investors who previously had nothing to do with the agro-industrial complex. The industry has become one of the largest consumers of new technologies and advanced scientific developments. More and more people see opportunities and prospects in agriculture both for themselves and for their business", Dmitry Patrushev said.
In 2014-2019, the actual growth of production in agriculture was 119%, food - 131%, and beverages -105%. According to the results of the current year, the expected growth in agricultural production over seven years may be 120.2%, food products - 135.3%, beverages - 108.1%, and in general for the agro–industrial complex - 125.1%.
In general, the restrictive measures have given an impetus to the development of the Russian agro-industrial complex, contributed to the inflow of investment, and created additional jobs in agriculture and related industries.
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