Editorial: Growth in Russia's Dairy Sector

Russia's dairy sector is growing quickly, with a rapid expansion of the cheese market and more cash being put into the sector from national and local government.

This year the country is forecast to produce 460,000 tonnes of cheese - a rise of 12 per cent on 2011.

The value of the market has grown by more than 19 per cent year on year, from 45.8 billion rubles in 2011 to 51.3 billion rubles.

Much of the growth in the market is the result of investment from the Russian government, which plans to invest 100 billion rubles in the development of the dairy industry over the next eight years, according to Agroru.

The government expects the industry to increase production by 25 per cent through this investment to produce 576,000 tonnes of cheese a year.

The rise in production is also matched by a rise in consumption of cheese in Russia which has increased by around four per cent over the last three years.

Despite the rise in production, Russia also still imports a large quantity of cheese, which was 218,000 tonnes in 2011 but is expected to fall to 202,000 tonnes this year, largely due to a ban on cheese products from Ukraine.

As part of the accession to the World Trade Organisation, Russia has also had to reduce import duties which have been evened out to around 15 per cent for all cheese products.

Meanwhile, dairy farms in the Moscow region are to benefit from a subsidy boost from the Russian government.

The injection of cash is part of a 60 million ruble bonus in 2013 for dairy, beef and pig farmers in the region, increasing the budget by 20 per cent to 3.6 billion rubles in a bid to support agricultural development, production modernisation and rural housing.

Moscow's dairy sector, which is set to receive 504 million rubles from the regional budget, has been made a priority by the Ministry of Agriculture. A further 414 million rubles from the federal budget.

The 2013 funding scheme is part of the “Development of agriculture and regulation of agricultural products, raw materials and food, Moscow Region for 2013-2020 years”, a policy started in August.

With the holiday season next week, the next newsletter from TheDairySite will be mailed out on 4 January.

On behalf of 5m Publishing, warmest seasonal wishes to all our readers for Christmas, the New Year and 2013.