State support has a positive impact on the volume of milk production - Vladimir Labinov
According to Vladimir Labinov, the introduction of "capex" for the industry a few years ago contributed to the additional involvement of business in the creation of new capacities for the production of milk. According to the expert, without this measure, it would be impossible to ensure the growth of the indicator.
Vladimir Labinov noted that in 2020, the volume of milk production in Karelia amounted to 60 thousand tons, which is comparable to the level of 2019. The official added that there are not many dairy farms in the region, but for the second year, a new ideology has been applied for the republic in terms of subsidizing a kilogram of milk.
Now in the Republic of Karelia there is no granting of subsidies for the fact of carrying out activities. The regional Ministry of Agriculture obliged the farms to conclude agreements that provide the implementation of a whole range of measures related to technical modernization, land reclamation works and measures to increase soil fertility.
‘In response to this measure, 4 out of 11 dairy farms went on strike. They did not apply for support measures and defiantly stopped production or reduced it. In addition, the remaining 7 enterprises have significantly increased production. Under these conditions, we maintained our production volume at the level of 2019. Government support has a positive effect on the volume of production. However, I remain a supporter of the fact that the subsidy per liter of milk itself, without reference to obligations, is just a distribution of money,’ said Vladimir Labinov.
In his opinion, in 2021, the volume of milk production in the region will increase. Based on the agreements that the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Karelia concludes with local farms, the expert said that milk production is expected to grow by 4-5%.
The official also noted that the region has a whole range of state support measures. This includes 30% subsidizing the cost of specialized equipment purchased by farms; and 70% subsidizing the cost of specialized reclamation equipment and forage harvesters.
‘In Karelia, there is a small percentage of households of the population. The volume of milk production in agricultural enterprises and peasant farm holdings in the structure of production occupies 90%. Therefore, we do not overestimate the indicators. On the contrary, statistics show that in recent years there has been a decline in production in the households of the population, - said Vladimir Labinov.
