Russia’s Deputy Minister of Agriculture took part in the opening ceremony of the 15th trade exhibition "Milk and Meat Industry".
The Minister outlined a number of challenges facing the sector including livestock population growth, the genetic potential of animals, improvement in production technology and the development of logistics.
Particular attention was paid to the development of domestic livestock breeding and the independence from foreign genetic material which is in line with government policy of extending import substitution to include technology.
The Minister said the formation of a competitive market for specialised beef cattle is one of the priority tasks of the state and that Russian beef production has not yet reached the level of food security which is a bit of an understatement as Russia currently imports 30-40% of its beef.
So if the Minister gets his way, and if he does he will be reversing decades of decline in domestic beef production, then it looks like we can expect Aberdeen Angus steak to be replaced with Kalmykia steaks in Moscow’s top restaurants anytime soon.