Over the next 5 years, the government will additionally allocate around 340 billion rubles to support the export of the country's agricultural machinery industry products. Russia is already in the top five manufacturers of agricultural machinery in the world. This and some other things were discussed today in Krasnodar. Dmitry Medvedev visited the CLAAS factory that produces harvesters, tractors, and headers.
Our observer Tatyana Remezova is in our studio.
- So, Tatyana, is it time to switch from the Belarus tractors to the Russian ones?
- Ernest, quite the opposite. The Prime Minister emphasized that the competition should be effective and thanked the sanctions for the breakthrough in Russian manufacturing. Just five years ago, only 25% of the machinery in the fields were Russian, and today this number is 60%.
Dmitry Medvedev climbed into a harvester's cabin at the CLAAS factory in the Kuban. This harvester is equipped with an onboard computer and navigational systems.
Dmitry Medvedev: "It's a spaceship, the view is perfect, not to mention the good air-conditioning".
Later, at the meeting, Medvedev guaranteed further support to the manufacturers, notably, in a larger volume than earlier.
Dmitry Medvedev: "The government will be ready to review the issue of increasing the funding under such subsidy programs. But, of course, we should take a look at the real rates of production, the demands formed by the consumers themselves, regional requests. Nevertheless, we will be ready to do that".
- It's obvious that the sanctions gave an impulse to the agricultural industry itself. Where does it appear in particular?
- Ernest, look: in 2018, Russia exported about 26 billion dollars worth of produce. For comparison, the export of weapons is just 15 billion dollars. Besides grains, Russia exported fish and seafood, oils, confectionery. Four regions, including Tatarstan, Stavropolye, Saratov and Kaliningrad regions, presented its products in Berlin, at the Green Week, largest international exhibition. This, for example, is a very rare watermelon seed oil from Saratov. The Kaliningrad region has been demonstrating full transparency of its preserves for the past month. The governor presented the can with a transparent cap to the Minister of Agriculture.
- It's soft.
- Yes, it is. It's made of plastic. They want to look into it.
- What about the shelf life?
- The shelf life is even longer. A regular can live for two years, this one lives for three.
Despite the sanctions, Russia and Germany sold each other food for 1,6 billion dollars in 2018. Pretty solid growth. The ministers of agriculture go over the exhibition together and arrange their next meeting, this time in Russia.
"Thank you so much".
Despite the fact that the grains harvest in 2018 over-covered the domestic market demand, the domestic price started to catch up with the export one. The Ministry of Agriculture will adopt measures to prevent price growth.
Dmitry Patrushev, the Russian Minister of Agriculture: "Today we plan to set up subsidized tariffs for transporting the grains concentrated in the Siberian Federal District, where the domestic price is 3-4 thousand rubles lower than in the European part of Russia. I don't think that the prices on the domestic market will grow".
That means that bread won't go up in price.
- Thank you, Tatyana. This was our observer Tatyana Remezova.
