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The Deputy Prime Minister briefed the head of state on the progress of the Ecological Well-Being national project, specifically focusing on measures to protect water bodies and to preserve and restore forests. They also discussed issues related to the agro-industrial complex, personnel training for the agricultural sector, and the state programme for rural development.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Where shall we begin? Let us start with the environment.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev: Good. Mr President, thank you very much. I have a short presentation prepared: the second part covers environmental issues, while the first part focuses on agricultural matters. Let us begin with the environment. I think there is plenty to discuss in this area.

The key objectives we are currently addressing within the environmental and nature conservation block are included in the Ecological Well-Being national project. We have allocated over 800 billion rubles for its implementation until 2030, with six federal projects serving as instruments for achieving these goals.

Let me highlight several key areas of our work.

We are placing special emphasis on improving the health of water bodies. The activities under the national project will cover many major waterways: the Volga, the Ural, and the Angara. Accordingly, we continue to build and renovate hydraulic and wastewater treatment facilities. I would like to note that we are closely monitoring progress on wastewater treatment facilities at the special Government centre, with the participation of the relevant federal executive bodies and, most importantly, the regions concerned.

Next, a few words about forests. They are our “lungs” and account for one-fifth of the world’s total forest reserves. Therefore, one of our key priorities is to conserve and restore them. Over the past six years, the area of newly planted forests has reached almost eight million hectares, and for several years now we have been gaining more forests than we are losing.

I would also like to emphasise the importance of protecting forests from fires. We had a challenging start to the season, but we managed to stabilise the situation by mid-July – something that usually does not happen until late summer. At present, both the area affected by fires and the number of fires are below the 2024 average and, most importantly, below the long-term average.

Major Cleanup is another notable federal project, which we use to clean up the environmental damage. The largest projects include the former Krasny Bor landfill in the Leningrad Region and industrial sites operated by Usolyekhimprom and the Baikal Pulp and Paper Mill in the Irkutsk Region.

I have been to all these sites. Notably, the work is underway without issues and as scheduled, meaning that we plan to clean these sites up on time.

In addition, as part of this federal project, a list of other hazardous sites, at least 50, is being drawn up to be eliminated by 2030.

On a final note, a few words about the Closed-Cycle Economy federal project. You set the task of ensuring one hundred percent waste sorting by 2030 and reducing landfill disposal by 50 percent, with one quarter of the waste to be reused. We are working to achieve these goals across several areas at once. Above all, this involves building the necessary infrastructure. Around 300 waste management facilities have been built since the time the reform started. We will need to build another 400 over the next six years.

There are important details to it. In 2025, the Government made it possible to speed up the process in 19 regions facing infrastructure construction-related difficulties by having a state-owned Russian environmental operator act as a lead participant in the projects. This mechanism is expected to create 37 facilities.

Without a doubt, waste management reform starts with clean container sites in urban courtyards. We teamed up with the regions to mount photo and video cameras at the sites to ensure quality and, most importantly, timely waste removal. To ensure waste delivery to waste treatment facilities, the GLONASS system is used to track garbage lorries.

However, much remains to be brought up to standard in this regard. We teamed up with the Ministry of Natural Resources and, most importantly, with heads of regions, to set up an interagency headquarters to monitor progress of the reform at the Government level.

In short, that is all I wanted to say about the environmental protection efforts. If I may, I would like to go straight to the agricultural sector.

Vladimir Putin: I would like to clarify a point about the forests. You said we are restoring more forest than what?

Dmitry Patrushev: More than we are losing. Forests are lost to wildfires and to timber procurement processes. We engage in reforestation. We use our own seedlings and we are now planting more forest than we are losing. Overall, we have accomplished a lot.

Vladimir Putin: I am genuinely pleased to hear that.

Let’s move to the next topic.

Dmitry Patrushev: Mr President, now regarding the current situation in the agricultural sector. I will begin with agricultural production. Russia is currently in the active harvesting phase, and this year’s grain yield is 10 percent higher than last year’s. Based on this, we forecast a total harvest of 135 million tonnes of grain, including about 88 million tonnes of wheat, our main crop.

I would like to note that for about six years now, Russia’s grain harvests have consistently exceeded 120 million tonnes. This achievement has largely been made possible through systematic government support and the introduction of advanced technologies.

However, our goal is to significantly increase production volumes by 2030, in line with your instructions. We are currently exploring various solutions and identifying new opportunities for growth, including practices that allow for two harvests from a single field, which are already being implemented, as well as prioritising support for key development areas.

I would also like to highlight our efforts to effectively respond to adverse weather conditions, including through the use of specialised aircraft to artificially increase precipitation. For example, Roshydromet operates such an aircraft, which was deployed in the Stavropol Territory this year, resulting in record yields. Other southern regions where the aircraft was not deployed experienced drought, but conditions in the Stavropol Territory were quite favourable. I believe we should expand this practice to other drought-prone regions.

Winter sowing is already well underway. According to our plans, it will cover approximately 20 million hectares, which is comparable to the area sown with winter crops last year. Farmers have all the necessary resources, and we are monitoring the situation.

I would also like to point out that the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Energy are maintaining constant dialogue and closely monitor fuel availability. The supply of agricultural machinery is sufficient, and programmes under both the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture continue to support its purchase.

The procurement of crop protection products and mineral fertilisers is also proceeding without disruptions. I would like to note that fertiliser production is growing; by the end of the year, total output is expected to exceed 65 million tonnes. This means we are fully self-sufficient in this area, while also continuing to implement new investment projects.

Furthermore, around 70 percent of fertiliser production is currently exported, which allows the Government, in cooperation with fertiliser producers, to maintain affordable prices for these products on the domestic market. Essentially, the industry’s enterprises derive their main profits from large-scale exports, which enables us to ensure affordable fertiliser prices for our domestic agricultural producers above all.

Mr President, I would like to report separately that extensive work continues on developing our own plant breeding. A wide range of measures has been put in place to encourage scientific research and the replication of these products, and we are already seeing results.

For comparison: in 2022, our seed self-sufficiency rate was 60 percent; in 2024, it exceeded 67 percent; and, according to our forecasts, by the end of 2025 we will approach 70 percent self-sufficiency in seeds of domestic selection. In areas where we previously relied almost entirely on foreign-bred products, Russian seeds are now being confidently introduced. This primarily concerns sunflowers, where there were certain gaps, and sugar beets, where we previously had no domestic seeds at all. Currently, approximately eight percent of crops are already planted with our own seeds. The use of domestically produced legume seeds has also increased significantly.

Mr President, if I may, I would like to briefly touch upon other areas of our agro-industrial complex.

Livestock farming. Our meat production volumes are expected to reach 17 million tonnes by the end of the year, which is slightly higher than in 2024. Milk production is also expected to grow modestly, exceeding 34 million tonnes.

Essentially, what I would like to draw attention to is finished product output. Overall, it has remained at last year’s level, but in certain areas…

Vladimir Putin: Semi-finished meat products have almost doubled, haven’t they?

Dmitry Patrushev: Yes, we have seen growth in certain segments. But overall, there are areas where we have observed a slight decline, such as food processing and manufacturing. This is due to challenging economic conditions, which…

Vladimir Putin: Are comparing this with 2014?

Dmitry Patrushev: With 2014, yes.

In 2024, we produced slightly more of several food and processed products.

Overall, Mr President, the situation is absolutely stable. I hope that now, with the reduction of the key interest rate, we will enter a new investment phase in the food and processing industries, and new investment projects will begin to be implemented. This should allow us to level out and transition to sustained growth.

Meanwhile, I would like to emphasise that our domestic market is fully covered. We have not observed any significant price increases for food items. Moreover, agricultural exports continue to grow. In 2025, export revenues are increasing in virtually all areas, except for grain. Our performance in this area is somewhat weaker: we have exported less grain, but that is due to the extremely low global prices for this product. However, our grain remains in high demand among foreign buyers, and we fully understand that if the pricing environment improves, export volumes will increase significantly.

Mr President, concluding the topic of the agricultural complex development, I would like to mention that since 2025 we have been implementing a new national project, Technological Support for Food Security. This project includes such important areas as breeding and genetics, the production of veterinary drugs and agricultural machinery, and the development of biotechnology. We have also made the development of our human resources a separate federal project. Agrotechnology courses are being established to train specialists, with a target of at least 18,000 by 2030. Young people will have the opportunity to obtain their first agricultural profession, their first agricultural specialisation.

In addition, the Agricultural Professionalism programme for the development of industry-specific colleges will be launched in 2026, as instructed. We have also begun a comprehensive upgrade of the infrastructure in higher agricultural educational institutions.

Undoubtedly, to attract people to the agro-industrial complex and to enhance the quality of life in general, we have been implementing the state programme for rural area development, which is now in its sixth year. It is extremely interesting and in great demand by the people. We have earmarked almost 400 billion rubles for this programme since 2020, with 116 billion allocated in 2025.

Mr President, thanks to your support, 565 billion rubles are provided for agribusiness complex development this year alone. This is a substantial amount that helps in the development of our sector. I would like to thank you for this.

Vladimir Putin: As far as I understand, the problems that agricultural producers used to face are now being resolved as a matter of routine. Is that right?

Dmitry Patrushev: Mr President we do address these issues as part of our ongoing work. We pay attention to emerging problems and strive to resolve them promptly.

The situation across the country is diverse, but I think you know that we experienced a drought in the southern regions. You have been approached by the Rostov Region with a request to support farmers who have lost their harvest due to adverse weather conditions. I think we will work on this together with the Governor and consider mechanisms to support the financial situation of agricultural producers in the affected regions.

In general, we ensure that if there are problems anywhere in the country, we also help our regional authorities to resolve them from the federal level.

Vladimir Putin: Good. Thank you.

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