Don agricultural products are supplied to almost 100 countries of the world

In the government of the region, as part of a meeting of the public council at the department of the consumer market of the Rostov region, they discussed options for the sale of Don agricultural products.

The event was opened by First Deputy Governor Viktor Goncharov. Initially, organizational issues were considered and a new HEAD of the public council was elected. Alexander Nechushkin, Chairman of the Commission on Economic Policy, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Tourism and Digital Development of the Public Chamber of the Rostov Region, became the winner.

The main topic of the meeting was the sale of local agricultural products and the interaction of trade organizations with small agribusiness and enterprises of the agro-industrial complex of the Don.

“Currently, during the period of sanctions, this is a topical issue, as trading enterprises are switching to domestic products and prefer to cooperate with local producers,” said Viktor Goncharov. “Moreover, as retail representatives themselves assure, small farms are in the area of ​​special attention, so their support , both at the stage of production and at the stage of its sale, is one of the important tasks for the authorities.”

At the meeting, it was noted that the products of Don agricultural producers, including small farms, are sold through several channels.

Firstly, there are 42 retail markets in the region with 16.8 thousand trading places, of which the majority (about 11 thousand trading places or 67%) are intended for the sale of agri-food products.

Secondly, fair trade is activated. In the first quarter of 2023, 178 fairs were operating in the Rostov region with the provision of about 4,000 trading places to Don farmers on a free basis. From January to March, 2.8 thousand fair days were held.

A new project in the formation of marketing channels for agricultural products has become preferences for local farmers in the placement of non-stationary trade facilities (NTO), namely the opportunity to get a place to place NTO without bidding, competitions and auctions. According to local self-government bodies, about 600 places are free in the territories of municipalities for the placement of scientific and technical organizations for agricultural producers. The most successful experience in implementing such opportunities is in Novoshakhtinsk and the Salsk district. In both municipalities, local farmers were helped to establish a mobile trade in fresh dairy products.

“Taking into account the policy of import substitution, representatives of network retailers are also interested in the supply of local suppliers,” said Alexei Pankratov, DIRECTOR of the Consumer Market Department. - In this regard, our department, together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of the region, organizes trade and purchasing sessions. Their main goal is to establish direct contact between manufacturers of goods and buyers of retail chains. Such interaction is necessary in order to avoid difficulties in entering the assortment matrices of network companies with products manufactured in the region.”

It was also noted that in the Rostov region, within the framework of the national project to support small and medium-sized businesses on the basis of federal retail chains, the Farmer's Island project is being implemented. In March 2023, such an “island” was opened in Taganrog, the Sovetinsky KOLKHOZ became the operator of the project.

Another promising direction was also discussed - the interaction of retail chains with Russian producers of agricultural products under the agro-contracting system, when direct long-term contracts are concluded with guaranteed volumes of supplies of fruits and vegetables. Now in the territory of the Rostov region, the companies X5 Group and OOO ORTK Yuzhny are jointly discussing the implementation of a similar project.

At a meeting of the public council, it was emphasized that work to expand the opportunities for selling local food will continue.

Agroexport

On the same day, in parallel, it was also about the sale of Don agricultural products to foreign markets. At the EXPORT council under the governor of the Rostov region, they considered the implementation of the regional project "Export of agricultural products" on the Don, which is part of the national project "International cooperation and export".

According to preliminary data from the Don Ministry of Agriculture and Food, since the beginning of the year, the volume of exports of Don agricultural products in actual prices has already exceeded 4 billion US dollars , which is 54.7% more than last year, and 98% higher in physical terms. The implementation of the planned indicator of the national project is 61.8%.

“Despite the sanctions imposed against RUSSIA and measures of customs and tariff regulation, as well as logistical restrictions for exporting enterprises, difficulties with international settlements, the export of agricultural products this year in the main positions significantly exceeds last year,” said the Minister of Agriculture and Food of the Donskoy region Konstantin Rachalovsky. – So, grain exports in physical terms are 2.3 times more than in 2022. Speaking about the geography of export, our products are supplied to almost 100 countries of the world. The main importers are still Turkey and Egypt , Bangladesh closes the top three.