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Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev reported on the status of the livestock and poultry industry and plans for developing domestic selection and genetics.

The meeting was also attended by Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko, Presidential Aide Maxim Oreshkin, Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Urals Federal District Vladimir Yakushev,Kaliningrad Region Governor Anton Alikhanov, Kursk Region Governor Roman Starovoit, Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov, Tyumen Region Governor Alexander Moor, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Damate Group of Companies Naum Babayev, General Director of the Smena Genetic Selection Centre, an affiliate of the Russian Academy of Sciences Research Institute of Poultry Processing Industry, Anatoly Komarov, General Director of the Agropromkomplektatsiya Group of Companies Sergei Novikov, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Zalesye Agro-Industrial Holding Andrei Romanov.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues, hello to everyone.

It is no secret that today the entire country is dealing with the issues that we consider an absolute priority. I mean the whole country. I will not go into detail about what’s happening in general at this point but now we are at an event we have planned, where we deal and will be dealing only with sectoral issues. At the same time, these issues are crucial for the economy in general, for enhancing our sovereignty in vital areas like the agro-industrial complex.

Today, the first turkey breeding centre is being launched in the Tyumen Region.

First, I would like to thank all those who took part in implementing this important project and to wish you future success.

The new centre will produce hatching eggs, a product that is very much needed. They will be sent to turkey raising farms.

Such projects are vital and are needed to substantially enhance our food security and independence, to provide our farms with domestic breeding material, to upgrade the quality of these products.

We have talked many times about the importance of developing our own selection and genetics reserve in the livestock and poultry industry. It would be no exaggeration to say that this issue determines our technological, scientific and food sovereignty, our sustainability and ability to fill the Russian market with accessible and high-quality food products.

These goals are becoming increasingly urgent now that we are subjected to sanctions pressure and global food challenges – these are common knowledge today. They are all the more important since we know that even before any sanctions, some states and corporations, global corporations were using their monopolistic advantages and competences in selection and in the production of genetic materials to curb their rivals and aggressively conquer markets.

Notably, our earlier decisions to support the agro-industrial complex and agriculture science worked out well for us. We provide for our needs and are among the world's leading producers. We are helping and will continue to help countries that are facing food shortages caused by the imbalances which, in turn, without exaggeration, were caused by the reckless and unprofessional policies of a number of Western countries.

I would like to once again thank all agricultural and rural workers for their good work. But we must definitely move forward, identify and respond to problems.

Today, we have managed to ensure food security among most key products such as grain, sugar, vegetable oil, and fish products, to name a few. I would like to separately note the achievements of meat and meat product producers.

In addition to saturating the domestic market, our livestock and poultry producers are exporting their products to more than 110 countries.

Of course, we are aware of what we need to work on, such as fruits, vegetables, milk, and dairy products in general. To reiterate, given our land area and other resources, the industry’s potential is tremendous. To tap it, it is critically important for us to consolidate our positions, achieve tangible progress and the necessary independence in a sensitive area like the seed and breeding fund which is the base of the agro-industrial complex and a basis for increasing the yield of our crops and the productivity of our farms.

Today, we have online with us companies that will breed domestic meat chickens, are already engage in livestock breeding, and are forming a genetic base in pig breeding.

In April (April 4 or 5) we covered in depth the development of the agro-industrial complex. Specific goals were set, including support for genetic selection centres. As a reminder, 5 billion rubles have been set aside for these purposes in 2022–2023.

What I propose doing today is to assess our achievements and outline long-term plans in breeding and genetic work in the interest of the agro-industrial complex, and to discuss additional decisions that are needed here.

Let’s discuss, or at least touch on these issues and outline our goals for the near future.

[Minister of Agriculture] Dmitry Patrushev is our next speaker.

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Vladimir Putin: Ok, thank you.

Mr Patrushev, I have noted that all colleagues who spoke today and those working in the agro-industrial sector are achieving substantial results, yet only Mr Sergei Novikov has received an award. The agrarians have scored outstanding results this year. I believe that we should take note of this and commend those who are achieving such results. We should appreciate these results accordingly.

In conclusion, I would like to respond to some issues that were raised here.

First, the self-sufficiency level for meat and meat products under the food security doctrine should be at least 85 percent. This year, we have already achieved 100.8 percent. Certainly, this is a good result that speaks volumes. I would like to congratulate everyone working in this field. We have reached 84.3-percent self-sufficiency in terms of milk and dairy products, although the projected target was a bit higher, about 90 percent.

We have very good relations with Belarus in all spheres, and it would be no exaggeration to say that they have the status of allied relations. We compensate a large share of this segment by deliveries from Belarus, and I do not see anything out of the ordinary here. On the contrary, if our Belarusian friends have such capabilities, we should simply take advantage of them.

Regarding projected meat export volumes, our colleagues have just noted that they will total 550,000 tonnes in 2022. Mr Patrushev mentioned this in passing, and this amounts to US$1.5 billion. Yes, we are also working to open up China in terms of pork, and I would like to note that, thanks to our joint work with our Chinese friends and partners, we have already discovered Chinese poultry and beef markets. We are working very well with Vietnam, and we have opened up their poultry, beef and pork markets. We will continue to work, just as our colleagues have requested.

I would also like to draw attention to preliminary estimates of the pedigree livestock-breeding sector’s nationwide self-sufficiency levels in late 2022: dairy cattle – 64 percent; meat cattle – 98.2 percent; pork – 84.6 percent; sheep – 98.5 percent. The breakdown for other categories is less impressive. This means that the results are here for everyone to see, but that we still have a lot to do.

In this regard, I would like to draw your attention to the Strategy for the Development of Agriculture and Fisheries Industry until to 2030. Let me remind you that we have set ourselves certain targets for 2030, and I know that the Government is working to improve this Strategy.

Nevertheless, I would like to point out that in order to ensure a 3-percent average annual growth rate in the agricultural sector, which is the goal set out in the Strategy – and I will return to it later – we must define the growth factors and determine how we are going to achieve this result, and we must stipulate that in the Strategy.

Particular attention should be paid to the need to introduce new or expand existing support mechanisms, some of which my colleagues have mentioned today. I think the Government needs to pay attention to this.

We also need to focus on import substitution indicators for critically important agricultural products, as well as products used in the agro-industrial complex.

Colleagues, we have now been introduced to projects that aim to develop the breeding base of domestic poultry and livestock farming. And on the whole, I would like to stress that this is certainly impressive and sets good benchmarks. It is important that these projects are implemented on the basis of the latest scientific advances and high agricultural standards, in close cooperation with the regions and are focused on the needs of producers.

I want to reiterate that we must move forward, restore and increase the breeding and pedigree potential, use the mechanisms of the federal scientific and technical programme for agricultural development more actively. Let me remind you that during the spring discussion on industry development, we set the task of accelerating the growth of production in the agricultural sector and we must strive to ensure such growth.

I have just mentioned a few things and I am asking the federal authorities and regional leaders to continue to respond promptly to the industry's needs and to proposals by our agricultural producers to increase the efficiency of breeding work in this area, and to actively support investment in the agricultural sector, including in agricultural science.

To conclude, I would like to thank you once again for your work.

I wish you success. All the best.