MOSCOW, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Russian companies should set up food-processing plants abroad with government support, Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut said on Wednesday, in a move aimed at revitalising the
Russia Aims to Enhance Agricultural Exports via Overseas Processing Initiatives
Russia's Agricultural Export Strategy
MOSCOW, Jan 21 (Reuters) - Russian companies should set up food-processing plants abroad with government support, Agriculture Minister Oksana Lut said on Wednesday, in a move aimed at revitalising the country's slowing agricultural exports.
Current Challenges in Grain Exports
Russia is the world's largest wheat exporter, but the growth of its grain exports slowed last year due to low global prices, which made growing wheat less profitable, and drought in the breadbasket Black Sea region.
Investment-led Strategies for Growth
The downturn has cast doubt on President Vladimir Putin’s target of increasing agricultural exports by 50% by 2030, prompting officials to consider investment-led strategies rather than relying solely on commodity shipments.
International Processing Ventures
"It will no longer be possible to simply win the partnership of countries by supplying raw products. That's why we must come forward with investments," Lut told a conference of milk and dairy product producers in Moscow.
Lut said that some unspecified Russian firms have started to set up flour-milling operations in other countries. She added that the government discussed the idea recently and that successful pilot projects are needed to move forward.
(Reporting by Olga Popova; Writing by Gleb Bryanski, Editing by Louise Heavens)
