Changes in meat imports to Russia should not be rushed - Zubkov
ASTRAKHAN. Feb 8 (Interfax) - Russia's First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov believes that changes in the system for importing meat to Russia should not be rushed.
"I believe that we won't be breaking up anything this year," Zubkov said at a press conference in Astrakhan on Tuesday.
He said that an understandable and successful import-substitution system has been set up over recent years. He added that domestic production has been increase over this time period. Zubkov did not rule that Russia could introduce import-substitution for poultry.
"It isn't worth breaking up what has been created. The quotas for this year have been set and presented to importers," he said. Zubkov added: "It is necessary to understand the business and not create a situation that would shake it up."
When asked if any decision had been made to in regards to request made by poultry and swine farmers for introducing subsidies owing to rising feed costs, Zubkov said: "The subsidy issue is not a major issue," adding that a decision in this regard would depend on prices on the grain market and production costs for poultry meat.
He added that the Russian government was allocated 5 billion rubles in the first quarter to those regions, which were able to maintain the number of livestock.
It was earlier reported Russia would consider moving from a tariff quotas on meat imports to a flat duty during negotiations for WTO accession. Russia first introduced quotes on meat imports before end of 2009 but later extended this regime to 2010 and 2011 while also reducing total quotas.
