The assembly of directors at the Russian business forum covered problems and prospects of the Russian agricultural industry

For the first time Expocentre hosts the Russian Business Forum on Strategic Challenges of Agribusiness 2019: Investments, Digital Technology, Efficiency Improvement, which is held as part of the Agroprodmash 2018 exhibition.

The forum is intended to be a networking platform for heads of Russian agricultural enterprises, government officials, experts, economists and analysts of the agricultural industry.  Its participants are deputies of the Russian State Duma, representatives of the government, relevant ministries and departments, financial institutions, heads of agricultural enterprises, agricultural processing companies, machinery and equipment manufacturers, and developers of the latest technologies for the industry.  

The forum was opened with the Assembly of Directors "The Russian Agricultural Industry: Main Development Tends in 2019-2022". Its participants discussed strategic problems of the Russian agricultural market, including government subsidies for Russian companies and digitalization of the industry.  

"The Russian agriculture industry keeps growing. It is Russia's only industry sector that has annually shown continual growth over the last ten years. It also has a great potential for using digital technologies," said assembly moderator, chairman of the Supervisory Board of Belaya Dacha, and head of the Committee on Entrepreneurship in the Agricultural Industry of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Viktor Semenov.

Russian State Duma Deputy Evgeniy Shulepov informed everybody about programmes of government support for the Russian agricultural industry. According to him, 39 billion rubles have been allocated for support of regional agricultural enterprises in 2018. In 2019 it is expected that the figure will rise to 40.6 billion. One more important issue is comprehensive rural development and a necessity to start a special national project devoted to it.   

Vice President of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Elena Dybova talked about markets for Russian-made products and difficulties small businesses face when entering retail chains. She mentioned that "the expansion of large retail chains destroys small trade." 

"The agriculture industry is one of the priority ways to foster integration in the Eurasian Economic Union. Problems related to sales and markets, instability of government support, putting together shipments and other issues are common for all members of the EEU," said Deputy Director of the EEC Agroindustrial Policy Department Aina Kusainova.   

Other speakers were Chairman of the Board of the National Dairy Producers Union Andrey Danilenko, General Director of the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies Dmitry Rylko and Honorary President of the Russian Union of Bakers Anatoly Kosovan.

See more at www.agroprodmash-expo.ru/en/

Press Service, Expocentre AO