Rustam Minnikhanov takes part in a meeting of the Russian State Council on effective agricultural production and development of rural areas

On December 26, Tatarstan President Rustam Minnikhanov, who is on a working visit in Moscow, took part in a meeting of the State Council of the Russian Federation on effective agricultural production and development of rural areas held by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Governor of Altai Territory Viktor Tomenko and Agriculture Minister of Russia Dmitry Patrushev made their keynote reports at the meeting.

“Today we have an important issue on our agenda. We will discuss the state agricultural policy,” Putin said, opening the meeting.

He reminded that he met representatives of the agricultural complex in Adygeya recently.

“The conversation was lively, direct and very interesting. The people who work in the industry, in rural areas, are like that everywhere. And the purpose of my meeting was to talk to people who work in the agriculture ahead of our meeting to hear from them on how they regard what the state is doing to develop the industry. And you know, in general, most of their feedback was positive. But there are issues that require our special attention,” the President said.

Among such issues, Putin called, first of all, the economics of agricultural production, comfortable living conditions, conditions for improving the well-being of people, further promotion of the Russian agro-industrial complex as a modern, globally competitive branch of industry.

Putin reminded that the average growth rates in agriculture were recently higher than those throughout the Russian economy. Even when the GDP was declining, the farmers reported positive indicators. For 11 months of 2019, agricultural production increased by another 4.1 per cent.

It is important that not only large holdings and companies, but also small businesses and family farms are increasing their contribution to the total result. It has grown from 7.2 per cent in 2010 to 12.9 per cent this year.

According to the results of 2019, agricultural exports, including both agricultural raw materials and high value added products can exceed 24 billion US dollars. The goal is to reach 45 billion US dollars by 2024.

Vladimir Putin also outlined two key problems in rural areas, including the quality of primary health care in rural areas and the average salary of agricultural workers.