STRATEGY ▶▶▶
Instead of build- ing new farms, Lakhtyukhov believes that in- vesting in own breeding stock production could be far more profitable and reduce de- pendency on foreign supply.
In 2020, the wholesale price for pork in some regions of Rus- sia was lower than that of poultry, which has never happened before. “However, the indirect impact of the global financial crisis caused by the pandemic has been dramatic in cutting producers’ margins, especially in the broiler meat segments. A 30% Russian national currency depreciation against the US dollar and euro since the beginning of 2020 has stimulated exports of wheat, corn and other grains, bringing the domes- tic [grain] prices to the international level,” Davleyev adds. This currency depreciation led to a rise in the price of all imported products. For Russian poultry producers, the list of these goods is quite long. “The increased cost of import- ed veterinary preparations, vitamins, other feed additives, equipment, and soymeal added pressure to the production economics. In September 2020, the average price of com- pound feed was 12% higher than a year ago, and 19% higher than in September 2018, while broiler prices remained at the same level,” Davleyev notes. The Russian National Feed Union estimated that the country is nearly 90% dependent on imported feed additives. Although several Russian com- panies have started producing amino acids themselves, and
12 ▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 2, 2021
the Vladivostok-based company Arnika has recently revealed plans to launch the country’s first production of feed vitamins by 2024, until now, Russian poultry farmers have had to shop abroad for feed additives.
Cry for help Against this background, poultry producers have appealed to the Russian Agricultural Ministry requesting state aid. Elena Stepanova, deputy director of the Russian Poultry Producers Union, warned that only the largest and most profitable agri- cultural holdings would stay at a breakeven point in 2020. At the same time, a large number of smaller producers have been pushed into the red. In October 2020, Russian poultry producers asked the government to subsidise grain destined for feed production. The present situation is so worrying that it could even impair the future development of the Russian poultry industry as a whole, with it taking a turn for the worse in 2021. “Expensive grain is not the only problem Russian poultry farmers are facing,” says Alexander Korbut, deputy di- rector of the Russian Grain Union (RGU). “They depend on im- ported breeding material, feed additives and other things. To
PHOTO: IGOR SAKHAROV
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