Russian Agriculture Ministry to work on issue of supplying animals to Novosibirsk region from other regions

MOSCOW. March 19 (Interfax) - The Agriculture Ministry is studying the possibility of supplying animals to the Novosibirsk region, where part of the cattle livestock was culled due to pasteurellosis disease.

"The Russian Agriculture Ministry will work on the issue of supplying the necessary amount of livestock to the Novosibirsk region. We will look at other regions and do everything so that citizens can restore their farms," Deputy Agriculture Minister Roman Nekrasov was quoted by the ministry as saying. Nekrasov is currently in the region.

In addition, "tools that can be utilized as part of other support measures for small farms are being considered, to help people get through this period and return to normal work," he said. "We discussed additional solutions with Governor Andrei Travnikov that will help strengthen the support measures already taken," he said.

Nekrasov also said that affected private subsidiary farms are already receiving compensation for seized livestock, social payments for families, and subsidies for restoring livestock numbers. The region compensates up to 50% of the costs for purchasing cattle.

Representatives of the banking sector confirmed their readiness to provide all possible support to those affected, primarily through concessional lending, he said.

As reported, a state of emergency was introduced in the Novosibirsk region due to livestock disease. Pasteurellosis was detected in six localities across five districts of the region, and rabies was discovered in more than 40 outbreak areas.

The Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) cited abnormal frosts in Western Siberia in January as the cause of the outbreaks. The mass nature of the disease was caused by a decrease in animal immunity due to stress from sharp temperature fluctuations. In addition, the virus began to mutate.

On the instructions of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev, a working group headed by the head of Rosselkhoznadzor, Sergei Dankvert, was sent to the region. At a meeting held on Wednesday, Dankvert said that the situation in the Novosibirsk region is under control. At the same time, he called the measures taken by the regional authorities to prevent the spread of the disease insufficient.

Rosselkhoznadzor is currently overseeing preventive work with livestock, and also conducting activities to prevent the illegal transport of animals without accompanying veterinary documents.