The Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation increases support for the dairy industry
This week the XV Congress of the National Union of Milk Producers took place in Moscow. Minister of Agriculture Dmitry Patrushev took part in its work. He summed up the industry’s performance in 2023, outlined the strategic directions for its further development and answered questions from business representatives.
The Republic of Tatarstan was represented at the congress by the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan - Minister of Agriculture and Food of the Republic of Tatarstan Marat Zyabbarov, Deputy Minister Gelyus Bayazitov, General Director of the Union of Milk Producers of Tatarstan Denis Pirogov and representatives of agricultural holdings.
As Dmitry Patrushev noted, over the last five-year period the trend of annual growth in raw milk production volumes has been confidently maintained. Last year, according to preliminary data, it amounted to 33.5 million tons, which is half a million tons more than a year earlier.
This is facilitated by the increase in productivity in dairy farming, as well as the modernization and creation of modern production facilities: in particular, over nine hundred dairy complexes have been introduced over the past 5 years. Increasing volumes of raw materials, in turn, stimulates the development of processing. Positive dynamics are recorded in the main categories. Thus, in 2023, the production of cream increased by almost 21%, cheese production by 16%, ice cream by 12% and dry dairy products by 8%. All this systematically increases the self-sufficiency of our market in milk and dairy products.
According to Dmitry Patrushev, stable production volumes make it possible to satisfy growing domestic demand and strengthen exports. In 2023, external supplies of Russian dairy products increased by almost a third. 3 new markets have opened - Pakistan, Hong Kong and Afghanistan. Thus, exports are now carried out to 73 countries.
Also, the head of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation dwelled on the issues of product quality control and improving the regulatory framework in the field of veterinary medicine, recalling that from September 1, labeling and recording of farm animals will become mandatory. This should have a positive impact on epizootic welfare.
Separately, the Minister spoke about a set of state support measures. Funding for this area is growing year by year. Thus, in 2020, 38 billion rubles were allocated to this industry, and in the past year, more than 61 billion rubles were previously allocated. Despite the difficult current situation, all areas of short-term and investment lending are maintained. Last year, investment loans became available for the construction and modernization of facilities for the production of medical nutrition. The loan period for enterprises producing sourdough starters was increased to 12 years.
Considering the high importance of this area, in 2023, at the initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Government decided to provide for the possibility of reimbursement of 70% of the costs for the acquisition and commissioning of marking equipment. In the selection for CAPEX last fall, 245 applications were approved for compensation for marking equipment of almost 2 billion rubles.
A draft resolution on reimbursement of up to half the cost of purchasing machinery and equipment when modernizing farms to expand capacity from a thousand animals has passed interdepartmental approval.
In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture is developing those additional steps that are needed at a particular point in time. Thus, in 2023, it was necessary to solve the problem associated with a certain overstocking of the milk market, which had a negative impact on the price situation. To support business, export opportunities were expanded through 100% compensation of transportation costs for individual processed products. As a result, external supplies of milk powder increased 6 times compared to 2022, and whey - doubled. This made it possible to remove surpluses from the domestic market and thereby adjust the cost of products.
Speaking about the main challenges facing the dairy industry, Dmitry Patrushev noted the need to further intensify production and introduce advanced technologies, as well as achieve import independence, primarily for breeding products. For the development of breeding work there is a special subsidy and preferential investment loans.
Also this year, an information and analytical system of breeding resources will be launched in test mode in 4 regions, which will improve the genetic potential of the livestock. In addition, the new FSTP subprogram, adopted in 2023, is aimed at strengthening the quality characteristics of dairy cattle. By 2030, it is planned to allocate a total of more than 5 billion rubles to it.