Russia to produce more meat
The Russian government has introduced a new plan to increase domestic food production and reduce the country's dependence on imports. One of its objectives is to increase meat production by 85% by 2015. According to the Russian agriculture ministry, domestic meat production rose 14% year-on-year in 2009 to 3.3 million tonnes. However, beef production is still declining due to a lack of profitability within the industry. The government is specifically looking at ways to improve conditions for beef producers.
The plan follows other recent and successful initiatives the government implemented to increase the production of pork and poultry. Restrictions on imports of these products have already been brought in.
The Russian Meat Union says the government should increase import tariffs and give producers loans with a repayment period of at least 10 to 15 years.
