Good-bye, our tender Bear

Источник: The DairyNews
Yesterday, Dmitry Medvedev resigned as Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. The entire Cabinet of Ministers resigned together with him, this was explained by good intentions not to interfere with Russian President Vladimir Putin to make "all the necessary decisions". How the resignation of the Russian government in full may affect the dairy industry, and what awaits the Ministry of agriculture - in the review of The DairyNews.

I'm tired, they're leaving 

 "As a government, we must give the President the opportunity to make all the necessary decisions, and in these circumstances, I believe that it would be right for the current government to resign in accordance with article 117 of the Constitution", said Dmitry Medvedev at a meeting with Vladimir Putin. The statement was given immediately after the President's address to the Federal Assembly, where the President announced significant changes to a number of articles of the Constitution. 

The changes announced by Putin might affect a number of articles of the Constitution, as well as change the balance of power. For example, it is planned to change the procedure for choosing the President – those who had foreign citizenship and those who have lived in Russia for less than 25 years will not be able to become one. Similar requirements will apply to officials - Ministers, judges, and members of the State Duma. The Duma will approve the Prime Minister, his deputies and Ministers, and the President will not be able to reject these candidates. The State Council will receive a special status.

The current head of the Federal tax service, Mikhail Mishustin, may be appointed as the new Prime Minister. His candidacy was proposed by the President of Russia himself, it was discussed in the State Duma and the new head of government was agreed upon.

Mishustin himself, in an address to the State Duma, first announced major changes in the new composition of the government. In particular, he will personally discuss candidates for the positions of Ministers with the Duma factions.

As for the ministries, so far their heads are waiting for the position in acting format. Some of them hurried to resign – Minister of sports Pavel Kolobkov and Minister of  culture Vladimir Medinsky resigned the day before. For the agricultural sector, the question of who will hold the post of Minister of agriculture remains open. So far, this post is held by Dmitry Patrushev.

The DairyNews spoke with market participants to find out what awaits the dairy industry under the new Cabinet, and whether Dmitry Patrushev will be the Minister of agriculture for a long time.

"During the President's annual address to representatives of the federations, Prime Minister Medvedev resigned along with the entire Cabinet of Ministers. Patrushev, who is responsible for agriculture, should also leave (as long as all the Ministers remain in the Acting format). Russian market operators immediately after hearing the news switched to discussing the possibility of canceling unwanted labeling, but for the industry, further relations with Belarus may become a more relevant topic", shared his opinion Maxim Fasteev, a leading analyst at “INFAGRO”.

Further state policy on labeling of finished dairy products is an important topic for market participants. However, few people believe that the new Cabinet will be able to do anything about the abolition of the hated labeling of dairy products - the course has already been chosen.

"So far, there is no reason to believe that this will have any impact on the industry at all, and that something will change dramatically now. No program statements were made, nothing that would concern us in any way was announced, - believes Alexander Nikitin, a member of the Board of Directors of the company "Alantal". - Under the last government, the dairy industry was allowed to take its course, and no one seriously engaged in it. National projects were more extended to meat farming and grain production - to everything except the dairy industry. The dairy market lived on its own, and not because of the government, but rather in spite of it, it became what we see now".

The previous government, according to the expert, brought only problems to the dairy industry. "Last year, the result of the work of the former Cabinet of Ministers, "Mercury", did a lot of harm to the industry. This year, we are waiting for labeling of finished dairy products – and it will cause even more harm. It is expressed in specific money per kilogram of products that have already hung in the form of "Mercury". The system was introduced forcibly, and if the next government also continues to torment the industry with these unnecessary functions, nothing good will happen to it", said Alexander Nikitin.

Dmitry Patrushev, according to the expert, will continue to hold his post: "He is a very non-public person who does not take part in the life of the industry. It's hard to say anything about him. What he is doing is unclear. As far as I know, he doesn't work with industry unions either. He takes his position, and will continue to take it".

Ravil Dautov, General Director of CJSC “Lactis”, also expects that there will be no relief measures on the labeling from the new Cabinet of Ministers.

"As for the change of the Minister of agriculture, I am not ready to comment on this issue yet, I do not know this. But as for the future life of the industry – I do not think that we are waiting for any drastic changes. I can note that the issues of labeling are only getting tougher. The vector has already been selected, and no one plans to cancel it. And in the rest, the trajectory of movement that our industry has taken will remain".

Alexey Demyanov, owner of the company "Syrnaya Guberniya (Cheese province)", said that the new government will be more deaf to the dairy industry. "The activity of the new government will be aimed more at preparing for elections from the point of view that the structure of the government is changing, the center of power will be redistributed. How will this affect the industry? – I think the general vector will not change globally. I think that now they will not care about us, about our market. Now everyone will focus on other matters, as the main ones, and our industry will move in the same direction", said Alexey Demyanov.

What's next? 

 What will the new government do once it is assembled? Mikhail Mishustin himself identified working with national projects and the digital economy among his priorities as head of the Cabinet of Ministers. This will apply to all industries, including agriculture.

Vladimir Surovtsev, acting Director of the Federal state budgetary scientific institution North-Western Research Institute of Economics and agricultural organization, suggested that the relevant Ministry should restore order in the system of support and regulation of the industry. According to the expert, it should refuse to be selective in providing state support.

"The relevant Ministry and the Government should restore order in the system of support and regulation of the industry, giving it stability and synergy, so that they support, and do not contradict each other and the stated goals. It is necessary to create opportunities to use all forms of support by all agricultural producers without exception, regardless of their size and forms of management, in proportion to the volume of commodity products. It is necessary to reject the selectivity of providing support based on subjective assessments".

Also, according to the expert, the new government will have the task of developing "verified strategies that are resistant to changes in the market environment, ensuring sustainable mutually supportive development of industries and sub-sectors of the agricultural sector".

Of course, to date, few people can give a real forecast of how the situation will develop in the future. We can only assume. We can hope that if a new person becomes the head of the Ministry of agriculture, he or she will be someone more adapted to such work. It should be someone whose work will be visible and will consist not only in reading the text on a piece of paper, repeating the figures of official statistics.

Read more at  © DairyNews.ru

30.01.2024
В России наметилась устойчивая тенденция сокращения поголовья коров: их количество снижается ежегодно, а в 2023 году достигло исторического минимума. The DairyNews обсудил с экспертами отрасли причины уменьшения молочного стада в России. Участники рынка поделились мнением о происходящем и рассказали, как избежать катастрофических последствий для производства молока, молочных продуктов и говядины.
Читать полностью