What to expect from Gordeev?

The face of agriculture in new Russia

Alexey Gordeev held the post of Head of the Ministry of agriculture for ten years: from 1999 to 2009, Experts recall that the period was extremely unfavorable economically; it affected all spheres of public life. Gordeev began to stabilize the situation actively: among the initiatives of the Minister was to subsidize farmers and cancel debts. Adhering to the policy of protectionism, he largely changed the structure of the domestic market of agricultural products: the doctrine of food security was developed, under which it was supposed to increase the share of grain on the domestic market to 95%, milk - from 90%, meat – from 85%. Later, when Russia joined the WTO in 2012, these measures acted as a protective barrier for domestic producers, and by the beginning of the 2000s, the share of grain supplies abroad has grown so much that Russia has acquired the status of an exporter of products.

It is known that Alexey Gordeev initiated a policy of quotas for imports of meat products and tariff protection of the sugar beet sector, he also developed agricultural legislation.  Thus, under the Land code and the law "On turnover of agricultural land", adopted in 2009 with the direct participation of the Minister, a requirement for the use of agricultural land was introduced strictly for its intended purpose.

A number of agrarians call the national project "Development of agriculture" and further adoption of the law on agriculture one of Gordeev's main achievements. Such steps have made it possible to implement a five-year program of support for agriculture.

- Alexey Gordeev is the initiator of the state policy strategy in relation to agribusiness, a strong player and a political heavyweight. I think that he will at least continue the strategy of development of agriculture, and perhaps will even force this direction, – said the expert of the dairy market, who wished to remain unnamed.

What is recalled in Voronezh 

The majority of residents in Voronezh respect the former Governor and the company under his leadership is linked with the time of prosperity of the region. The residents of Voronezh note: Gordeev put in order the appearance of the city and took a number of measures to enrich the cultural life of the population. But the main efforts were made by the Governor in the agricultural sector where considerable support was given to development of animal husbandry. The result surpassed expectations - against the background of general growth in the cattle population the volume of milk production increased by approximately 40%. According to RIA Voronezh, within eight years the gross regional product of Voronezh region increased by 33.6% to 823.1 billion rubles in 2017. The budget of the region increased two times to 110.2 billion rubles (across Russia – 1.7 times). Investments also doubled, amounting to 275 billion rubles. Significant growth also took place in the agricultural sector. The volume of grain increased 1.2 times (to 5.5 million tons), eggs - 1.5 times, milk – by 30%, meat – 2.1 times. Industrial production in Voronezh region increased 1.98 times more than the average in Russia in 2009-2017. During this time, 30 industrial enterprises were put into operation and 11.5 thousand jobs were created. By the dynamics of industrial production, the region ranked seventh in the country. The volume of housing commissioning increased 1.5 times, the income of population in Voronezh region increased by 41.7%. The retail trade turnover increased 1.5 times.

- Being the Governor of Voronezh region, Alexey Gordeev showed in practice what progress can be achieved in the agro-industrial complex. He always supported farmers both morally and administratively and with subsidies. He thoughtfully directed us where it was necessary, where there were bottlenecks, for example, into dairy business – commented earlier Stefan Durr, President of the group of companies "EkoNiva".

It has to be noted that being the Minister of the agro-industrial market of the Russian Federation Gordeev held a dairy intervention, but last year he stressed that this mechanism is ineffective for the market at present.

The ex-Governor spoke out unambiguously negatively of the dairy interventions.
 
"The theme is irrelevant, unreasoned. Now there is a shortage of raw milk. It is strange to discuss this question when there are other priorities. Moreover, the question of what we will do when we buy extra dairy products did not go further", noted Alexey Gordeev during a conversation with journalists after the round table of the State Duma Committee on agrarian issues in Voronezh on May 23 last year. 

Alexey Gordeev is a supporter of active struggle against falsification on the dairy market. 

At the very beginning of 2018 Gordeev offered the Chairman of the Board of the national Union of milk producers Andrey Danilenko to pay special attention to the quality control of dairy products throughout the chain – from the farm to the trading point.

This should lead to a reduction in the volume of milk falsification in the retail network and in the institutions of the social sphere.

- Perhaps, it is worth giving these powers entirely to the Rosselkhoznadzor. There should be only one authority to control the whole process to get a result, – Alexey Gordeev said.

The official also recalled the European experience in the fight against falsification, envisaging the imposition of turnover fines of 3%.

Read full article in Russian on DairyNews.ru