#7
pravda.ru
September 19, 2002
SELF-NOURISHMENT
Russia to protect itself from unfair rivals
A dream cherished by the Soviet Union for almost eighty years has finally
come true. Finally, Russia can successfully feed itself, Russian Prime Minister
Mikhail Kasyanov said today. Moreover, the prime minister promised that measures
will be taken to protect Russian agricultural producers from subsidized imports.
This means that tariffs on imported grains will subsequently increase.
At the opening of today’s session, Mikhail Kasyanov said, “the government
will crackdown on unfair competition.” This concerns restrictions on grain
exports. As is known, European governments and governments of other grain
exporting countries subsidize their farmers considerably to incite them to
export grains. In addition, Russian producers prefer to buy imported grains
because of their good quality and reasonable prices. However, the situation is
likely to change.
The prime minister admits that some people may dislike these measures: “However,
if subsidized producers oppress Russian producers working under the market
conditions in the Russian Federation, we have to take fair, but well weighted
and grounded, measures.” He said that Russia’s agriculture is currently
strong enough to provide for the domestic market.
If this is so, a question arises as to why subsidies for the Russian
agriculture haven’t been yet cancelled. 5.5 billion rubles are set aside in
the 2003 budget for this purpose. This is probably thanks to centrist deputies
who are very concerned about coming parliamentary elections.
A strong and competitive agricultural producer needs no help from
governmental officials. It is good enough to produce as much wheat and rye as
necessary and make the price-quality ratio competitive on any of the world
markets. However, this doesn’t concern Russian agriculture, which is currently
in poor condition, when there are no bank loans, no agrarian infrastructure, and
the level of mechanization is low. The only advantage of Russian agricultural
producers is cheap manpower, relatively cheap diesel fuel, and the hope for a
dry summer, that’s all.
Mikhail Kasyanov says: “Russia has been an import-oriented country for a
long time already. Currently, we can nourish the country ourselves.” However,
there are still doubts. We should wait until next year to see how great the
harvest will be then.
Kira Poznakhirko
PRAVDA.Ru
Translated by Maria Gousseva
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