June 6, 2007

Poultry now the largest portion of Russian diet

Poultry now accounts for more than half the typical Russian diet, accounting for 51 percent last year, Russian agriculture minister Aleksei Gordeyev announced at the opening of a new processing plant in Constantinov in the Moscow region.

Four years ago poultry meat formed just seven percent of the Russian diet, this year it could rise to 60 percent, he said.

Meanwhile, Russia's poultry meat production this year has risen by 16 per cent on 2006 levels. The country's poultry production is expected to exceed 1990 levels for the first time this year, reaching 1.8 million tonnes.

The new processing plant, part of the APK Development Project, is expected to have a capacity to process 6,000 birds an hour. It also received financing of 840 million Rubles (US$34.2 million) from Russia's Rosselkhozbank.