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The Russian Ministry of Agriculture has summarized the six-year results of the food embargo imposed by Presidential Decree No. 560 dated August 6, 2014. During this time, the Russian agribusiness sector has demonstrated significant development. Today Russia is fully self-sufficient in terms of basic foodstuffs and is actively developing the export potential of the industry.
Over the last six years Russia has reduced its food imports by one third - from $43.3 billion in 2013 to $30 billion in 2019. Pork imports have decreased tenfold; in 2013 the country imported $2.6 billion in pork, and in 2019 it only imported $270 million. As for beef, imports decreased from $3.2 billion to $1.3 billion. Poultry imports decreased by half- from $911 million to $410 million. Vegetables and dairy product imports were down by a third.
The steady development of the agro-industrial sector and self-sufficiency has allowed the development strategy to change from an import substitution model to an export-oriented one. Russian agricultural exports have increased 150% and totaled $25.6 billion at the end of 2019 compared to $16.8 billion in 2013. There has been a significant increase in supplies of meat, fat-and-oil products, and food and processing industry products abroad. Russia is among the top suppliers of wheat, vegetable oil, fish, sugar and several other categories.
Over the past six years, there has been a significant increase in government support for the agricultural sector. In 2013, 197.9 billion rubles were allocated for the State Program of Agriculture Development - in 2019 funding totaled 311.5 billion rubles.
Thanks to these measures, Russia has seen a significant increase in the production of the main crop products - cereals (from 92.4 million tons in 2013 to 121.2 million tons in 2019), sugar beets, soybeans (from 1.5 million tons to 4.4 million tons), vegetables in winter greenhouses, fruits and berries, and other crops.
Significant progress has also been made in livestock production. For example, pig production in all categories rose from 3.6 million tonnes (live slaughter weight) in 2013 to 5.03 million tonnes in 2019, while poultry production rose from 5.2 million tonnes to 6.7 million tonnes.
From 2014-2019 the actual growth of production in agriculture was 119%, food - 131%, beverages - 105%.
Overall, the embargo has encouraged the development of Russia's agro-industrial sector, contributed to the inflow of investments and the creation of additional jobs both in agriculture and in related industries.
August 6, 2020/ Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation/ Russia.
https://mcx.gov.ru
