January 2, 2010

Russian meat producers back new meat import quotas

Meat producers in Russia are supportive of the new meat import quotas for 2010-2011, recently approved by the federal government.

There is no urgent need for imported meat as local production is able to almost fully meet domestic demand, said Vadim Dimov, head of Dimov Company, one of Russia's largest meat delicacies producers.

He said the government should also refuse meat quotas in favour of protective tariffs, which will improve the business environment. Dimov claimed that the problem of meat quotas continues to be a huge problem for most leading Russia meat producers.

Musheg Mamikonyan, president of the Meat Union of Russia, said the new quotas could be reduced further, particularly for poultry, as Russia faces an oversupply in poultry which has pushed down prices.

Poultry prices in wholesale and retail segments have decreased to RUB75 (US$2.5) per kg, he said.