Victoria Abramchenko instructed to take measures to increase the production of poultry meat and eggs

Abramchenko also instructed the Ministry of Agriculture to analyze the sufficiency of production capacity for the production of chicken meat and chicken eggs to meet market needs and export potential. The press services of the largest producers of table eggs in Russia - Volzhanin, Roskar, Varaksino, Yaratel, etc. - did not respond to Agroinvestor’s requests about whether they will be able to increase production.

Denis Ternovsky, a leading researcher at the Center for Agricultural Policy at the Institute of Economics and Economy of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, said that over the past 20 years, poultry meat production in agricultural organizations has grown by an average of more than 10% per year. Therefore, Russian agriculture has experience of sharply increasing output. “In recent years, the state of the market has been assessed as a plateau - domestic demand is satisfied, per capita meat consumption exceeds the rational norm, and exports are limited. The current year has shown that the market has come out of this state - the increase in household spending on food stimulated demand, including for poultry meat , and production, in particular due to the spread of bird flu, was unable to quickly satisfy it,” the expert argues.

According to him, even without active government support, one could expect an expansion in production associated with rising prices; support can make this process faster and more sustainable. A margin of safety for the industry and the domestic market should be created by exports, which, if necessary, can be promptly redirected to domestic consumption, not even through bans, but through the price mechanism, says Ternovsky.

First Deputy Minister of Agriculture Oksana Lut previously held a meeting on stabilizing prices on the poultry market. Representatives of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) noted a significant increase in prices for poultry meat since May 2023. In September  , the Ministry of Agriculture  reported that the cost of poultry meat is expected to decline in the near future, including due to the expansion of production capacity and a reduction in seasonal demand. Following the meeting in October, the Ministry of Agriculture noted that an agreement had been reached with poultry producers to stabilize prices on the domestic market. On October 24, Abramchenko said that prices for poultry meat and eggs have stabilized, and prices are expected to decline in the future.

According to the Russian Poultry Union, at the end of 2022, the top 20 largest poultry farms produced 15.4 billion edible eggs. The average per capita production in this group was more than 470 pieces. Rusprodsoyuz previously said that eggs are becoming more expensive this fall due to a number of factors: increased consumption, decreased supply, increased production costs and a shortage of personnel and increased wages against this background. According to the union, at the beginning of November the selling price for a dozen eggs was 71.8 rubles, while retail eggs cost 107.3 rubles.

In addition, in November it was reported that in order to increase the supply of poultry products on the domestic market, the Ministry of Agriculture is considering the possibility of zeroing out duties on egg imports for a period of six months.

Also, the subcommittee on customs, tariff and non-tariff regulation supported the proposal to establish a tariff benefit for the supply of certain types of domestic chicken meat. The Ministry of Agriculture noted that prices for poultry products are rising due to increased demand, so measures have been taken to support producers and increase supply.