Russian Agriculture News

"Our farmers did not disappoint”: in ten years, Russia has more than doubled food exports, by Vladimir Tsegoev and Ksenia Chemodanova for RT in Russian.06.27.2023.

In 2022, global food exports exceeded $2 trillion for the first time. Moreover, Russia has again become one of the main suppliers of agricultural products to the global market. Today, the country is among the top five grain sellers and is the leader in wheat shipments abroad. In total, over the past ten years, Moscow has increased the export of agricultural products by about 2.5 times. As explained in the government, back in 2014, after the introduction of the first Western sanctions, Russia began to rapidly raise its own agriculture. As a result, the country is now not only self-sufficient in a number of products, but also has the opportunity to increase supplies to other regions of the world. At the same time, China is the main buyer of Russian food today.

In 2022, global agricultural exports grew by 7.4% compared to 2021 and reached $2.02 trillion for the first time ever. At the same time, Russia again entered the list of leading food suppliers to the global market and took 17th place, as stated in the report of the Agroexport Center under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation published on Tuesday, June 27.

According to the agency, last year Moscow increased sales of agro-industrial complex goods by 12% at once, to $41.6 billion. 18%.

“The difficult geopolitical situation in the world has led to the transformation of exports of agricultural products. Russian companies have adapted to the new reality - they have rebuilt logistics routes and financial settlements with counterparties. The state, for its part, adjusted the conditions for providing state support and directed its efforts towards maximum assistance to business,” commented Sergey Levin, Deputy Minister of Agriculture.

According to him, Russian business continues to increase its presence in the global agricultural market and ensures uninterrupted supply. Thus, enterprises make a significant contribution to solving the problems of global food security, the deputy head of the ministry added. A similar idea was previously expressed by President Vladimir Putin.

“For ten years now, Russia has consistently been in the top five grain exporters. Since 2016, it has been the world's largest supplier of wheat - number one in world markets. There is reason to believe that this year our companies will take another step forward: they will rewrite and update the record for the export of this crop. At the same time, Russia will actively participate in ensuring global food security and provide assistance to countries, including African ones, that are experiencing food shortages,” Putin stressed.

According to Agroexport analysts, last year China became the main buyer of Russian food products. In total, from January to December, Moscow increased the supply of agricultural products to China by 36% in quantitative terms and by 44% in monetary terms. In particular, Beijing has been a leading importer of soybeans, rapeseed and linseed oils, poultry, beef, oats, flax seeds and honey. In addition, shipments of seafood to the Asian republic have also increased markedly.

“The growth of exports to China is due to several factors. First, it is the growing interest on the part of the PRC in products manufactured by Russian companies. The second is the removal of covid restrictions, the third is the redirection of the released volumes of exports in connection with the imposition of sanctions by unfriendly countries, ”the Federal Agency for Fishery explained.

In addition to China, the main importers of Russian agricultural products today include other Asian states, as well as the countries of the Middle East and Egypt. At the same time, even under the current sanctions, Europe also buys part of the food from Moscow, as Georgy Ostapkovich, director of the Center for Market Research at the Institute for Statistical Research and the Economics of Knowledge at the Higher School of Economics, told RT.

“Exports increased last year, including due to rising prices. Inflation was growing everywhere in the world, products became more expensive, and suppliers took advantage of this. Nevertheless, it is worth noting that our products are sold at fairly affordable prices. Plus, we have a well-developed logistics of deliveries, and the goods meet all environmental safety standards. These factors make Russian products attractive,” Ostapkovich said.

On full self-sufficiency

It should be noted that at the end of 2022, the share of the Russian Federation in the global agro-industrial complex increased to 2.1%. Moreover, among the top 20 largest suppliers, Russia showed the largest increase in food exports over the past ten years - 2.5 times.

One of the reasons for such a rapid increase in indicators was Moscow's response to the first Western sanctions back in 2014. The Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation Anton Siluanov spoke about this in an interview with RT.

“We (after 2014. - RT ) dramatically raised our agriculture. We now have no problems in this industry, we are fully self-sufficient, although earlier we had to import food from the same Europe, ”said the head of the Ministry of Finance.

According to government estimates, today Russia covers 178% of domestic demand for grain, while to achieve food security, the figure should be at least 90%. In addition, the country is self-sufficient in vegetable oil (211 instead of 90%), fish (153 instead of 85%), sugar (103 instead of 90%) and meat (100 instead of 85%).

“There was no such grain harvest as last year in Soviet times. 157 million tons is a huge success for our agricultural industry. There are also new records for the volume of oilseeds. An increase is visible in meat, potatoes, greenhouse vegetables, fruits," Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin noted earlier.

According to him, last year the authorities returned about 450 thousand hectares of land to agricultural circulation and built 25 fish processing plants, and the total amount of financing for the agro-industrial complex exceeded 420 billion rubles. All this, as the head of the Cabinet emphasized, made it possible to protect the Russian food market from new Western sanctions in 2022.

“We saw that most of all people were worried that products would disappear from the shelves. Many still remember how it was more than 30 years ago. But our farmers did not disappoint. Growth dynamics - over 10%. The level of food security in Russia is one of the most reliable in the world,” Mishustin added.

https://russian.rt.com/business/article/1167329-export-eda-rossiya-mir

pocalypsis pocalypseos 🅉
@apocalypseos
·
Jun 30
Replying to
@apocalypseos
For 5 years, the Moscow region has increased the export of agricultural products to India by two & a half times. Persian Gulf countries are showing great interest in Russia’s high-quality agricultural products: last year, exports of these products near Moscow grew by almost 69%.

High growth rates show deliveries to Kuwait (475%); Oman (469%); Bahrain (372.5%); Saudi Arabia (203.7%). The UAE agreed on certificates for the export of Russian poultry and table eggs, which opens up new opportunities in trade relations.

More sanction please.
Arctic Gardening & AI-Powered City Farms Assure Leap Forward for Russia’s Agriculture

Western sanctions were designed to limit Moscow’s ability to develop its agriculture, but Russian scientists managed to break the blockade, successfully replacing foreign know-how with domestic technology.
Scientists at the Russian State Agrarian University, also known as the Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy, have focused on creating ways to grow just about any plant in regions that are usually too risky for agriculture, such as territories beyond the Arctic Circle.

The concept of photo culture in closed-circuit systems that they use is not new: all sorts of plants can be grown using this technology in a dark and hostile environment with the help of computer-controlled LED lighting and climate adjustments. But what’s really unique for the Timiryazev Academy is the Russian-made software and domestically-produced nanny robots that take care of the plants.
“First of all, we grow salads and greens, but we also explore growing berries, such as blueberry and raspberry, as well as strawberry,” says Professor Ivan Tarakanov, who is in charge of the artificial climate lab at the Timiryazev Academy. “With the appearance of LED lighting we have got a powerful tool that helps us to control the plant’s green mass gain and the synthesis of target functional characteristics, which is important for medicinal herbs, for instance.”

At the moment some parts of the photoculture farms are foreign-made. But the scientists are currently aiming at complete replacement of imported technology with domestic advances.
“The parts and components are mixed – we are using Chinese LED crystals at the moment, but LED lamps are Russian-made,” Ivan Tarakanov told Sputnik. “But the key thing is that we have domestic software here, which solves the problem of buying expensive foreign software, as the latter is nearly impossible under sanctions. We also have a interdisciplinary approach, so besides agriculture experts we also have IT specialists from the Bauman State Technical University working with us.”

According to Alexey Zhuravlev, who is Timiryazev Academy’s vice rector for scientific and innovative development, one of the broader goals for his team is to help enhance Russia’s food security, and building closed-circuit small farms for the Arctic is an important step in that direction:
“The Arctic is a whole other world, and creating technologies to grow plants in closed circuit farms, in vertical farms - is something which is definitely a breakthrough. These are the projects that we are proud to showcase to the media today.”

The Timiryazev Agricultural Academy is named after the famous Russian imperial botanist Kliment Timiryazev, and was established in the mid-19th century. It currently consists of eight institutes, including regional branches, and is considered to be the country’s top agricultural educational facility, welcoming over 15,000 students from Russia and 73 other nations.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20230705/arctic-gardening--ai-powered-city-farms-assure-leap-forward-for-russias-agriculture-1111679696.html

Biggest buyer of Russian grain revealed, 07.10.2023.

Egypt has imported nearly 12 million tons of wheat from Russia since July 2022.

Egypt was the largest buyer of Russian wheat in the 2022-2023 agricultural year, according to data from the Russian Grain Union (RGU) cited by the Agrotrend news outlet.

The North African country imported 11.9 million tons of Russian wheat during the stated period, amounting to 22.5% of all Russian exports.

Türkiye was the second biggest importer with 10.2 million tons (19.3% of Russian exports), followed by Algeria (3.3 million tons), Iran (3.1 million tons), and Saudi Arabia (3.1 million tons). Pakistan, Libya, Bangladesh, Israel, and Sudan were also among the top 10 importers.

According to Elena Tyurina, head of the RGU’s analytical department, Russian traders exported upwards of 53 million tons of wheat to foreign markets, almost one and a half times more than the previous year. Exports in June surged to record highs of 4.2 million tons, although they traditionally fall by the end of the marketing year. They were uncharacteristically high in the entire second half of the year, Tyurina noted.

The expert linked the trend to several factors, including high demand from traditional buyers of Russian wheat, the addition of buyers from countries that had not previously contracted Russian grain, and a drop in prices due to the recent reduction of export duty. A number of traders also bought wheat in advance amid concerns of a supply shortage on the global market in 2023-2024, Tyurina added.

According to RGU calculations, Russia’s total grain exports last year amounted to 61.8 million tons, a record high and a surge of nearly 45% against the previous season.

Russia harvested a record grain crop last year, with farmers gathering more than 150 million tons of grain, including over 100 million tons of wheat.

https://www.rt.com/business/579461-russia-biggest-grain-buyer-egypt/

Good that Russia had the balls to refuse this thinly-veiled Western and Turkish blackmail in the end.

Amazing given there is a war going on around them.

Zlatti71
@djuric_zlatko
.
3h
Agrarians of the DNR, LNR, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions have already harvested more than 350 thousand tons of crops from an area of 124.65 thousand hectares of fields.

"As of today harvested: 340.4 thousand tons of grain crops, 15.8 thousand tons of leguminous crops and 2.7 thousand tons of vegetables", - noted in the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation.

In addition, more than 1662 thousand hectares of fields have already been sown with spring crops in the new regions. The highest indicator of sowing area was recorded in Kherson region - 474.6 thousand hectares.

This is one of the reasons why the west is so deperate.
Last year Larry Johnson had a long list of stuff imported by the EU.
Most of the time 404 belonged to the Top 3, a lot of times 2nd place
behind Russia, sometimes even No. 1.
The reunification will leave the EU in a sad state. On the other hand
Russia will gain even more leverage.

Russia decided to become the world's largest exporter of pork, by Olga Samofalova for VZGLYAD. 07.27.2023.

Russia not only got rid of import dependence on pork, but also actively increases its export. Strong export growth in the first half of the year promises a record high in 2023. Russia's next ambitious goal is to become one of the top five pork exporters in the world. Under what condition will it be achievable?

In the first six months of 2023, Russia shipped over 74 thousand tons of pork and pork offal abroad, which is 57% more than in the same period last year in physical terms and 86% more in monetary terms. This was reported in the federal center for the development of exports of Russian agricultural products (Agroexport, owned by the Ministry of Agriculture).

However, these data do not include data on the EAEU countries for May-June. If we add these data, then the numbers are even higher. According to the National Pig Breeding Union, for six months, the export of pig products in the first half of the year amounted to 116.6 thousand tons against 83.3 thousand tons in 2022.

“We practically don’t have imports anymore, but not because it is closed, but because over the past 15 years a whole industry has been created, production has grown every year, and we have almost completely gone from import dependence,” says the general director of the National Union of Pig Breeders Yuri Kovalev. From the number one importer in 2012, Russia for six years (in 2018) reached one hundred percent self-sufficiency in pork meat, increasing production to 4.5 million tons. Russia is already in the top 5 pork producing countries in the world.

Now Russian pig breeders have moved from import substitution to an export-oriented strategy. “For us, export is now the main direction for growth. Back in 2019-2020, Russia reached about 200 thousand tons of exports, which is approximately 5% of our total production. In 2023, the export of pig products can reach 220-230 thousand tons and 500 million dollars,” says Kovalev.

The main strategic challenge for the Russian pig industry in the next 10 years is to become one of the top 5 pork exporters in the world. According to the results of sales in 2020–2022, Russia has already entered the top 10 world exporters.

“In order to enter the top five largest exporters of Russia, it is necessary to at least double exports to 350–400 thousand tons, that is, up to 10% of domestic production,” the interlocutor says.

Why does the expert consider this level comfortable for the industry? “Sending for export 5-10% of total production is a global weighted position. So that if something suddenly happens to exports due to the epidemiological, economic or geopolitical situation, this does not have a significant negative impact on the domestic market in the form of a collapse in prices,” says the director general of the National Union of Pig Breeders.

Becoming one of the top five exporters in the world is an ambitious but realistic goal, but on the condition that Russia manages to open up new markets in Southeast Asia.

First of all, we are talking about the opening of China as the largest consumer and importer of pork, as well as entering the markets of the Philippines and Thailand, with which there are no geopolitical contradictions, says Kovalev. China, according to the NSS, in 2023 will import 2.1 million tons of pork, the Philippines - 600 thousand tons. The list of the largest importers also includes Japan, Great Britain and South Korea, however, it is hardly possible to break into these markets for Russian pork, including for geopolitical reasons. These countries are close friends with the US and buy American pork. Competing in these markets is understandably pointless.

Unfortunately, China is still closed to Russian pork due to the presence of the African swine fever (ASF) virus. China has closed imports from all countries, including European ones, where this virus was found, which is rapidly spreading around the world. For example, in 2019, the virus reached Germany, and China closed the import of German pork. “China is really afraid of this plague, there are no geopolitical problems here. But China understands that sooner or later it will still have to open its market as this virus continues to spread. It is already in most of Europe, already in America, although it is not yet in Brazil and the United States. Many have already understood that even this virus can be traded. It is impossible to close the whole country if the virus is present there. There is such a thing as regionalization. This means that it is possible to allow the import of pork from those regions where the virus does not exist. We have absolutely ASF-free regions. Vietnam and Hong Kong have already recognized our regionalization. The Vietnamese market opened for us in 2019. Today we are already one of the main suppliers of pork. For two years, we have occupied almost 40% of all imports of pig products into the country. We won our place from our main competitors - Brazil, the USA and the European Union. This proves that we can supply the Asian market, that we have absolutely competitive products both in terms of quality and cost,” says Kovalev. For two years, we have occupied almost 40% of all imports of pig products into the country. We won our place from our main competitors - Brazil, the USA and the European Union. This proves that we can supply the Asian market, that we have absolutely competitive products both in terms of quality and cost,” says Kovalev. For two years, we have occupied almost 40% of all imports of pig products into the country. We won our place from our main competitors - Brazil, the USA and the European Union. This proves that we can supply the Asian market, that we have absolutely competitive products both in terms of quality and cost,” says Kovalev.

India, unfortunately, is not a big consumer of pork, it is not their kind of meat. China is another matter. “China consumes half of the world's pork production because pork is everything to them.

China itself produces 55 million tons of pork. They have the most modern production, another thing is that they do not have enough territories and feed. They are now building 26-story pig complexes in the mountains and buying huge amounts of soybeans, including in America, to feed their pigs.

While producing 55 million tons, which the Chinese themselves consume, they lack another 2-3 million tons per year, which they buy. This is not much, and it is difficult to call it dependence on imports. Rather, they need imports simply to balance the market, in order to buy more when there is not enough. Therefore, China will always import 2-3 million tons. We, in fact, do not want to get half of this, but only 5–10% of this imported pie,” says the interlocutor.

There is hope that China will still allow a number of regions of Russia where there is no ASF to supply pork. Negotiations are being held at the highest level. At least at the end of 2021, China allowed the supply of pork from France even in the event of an outbreak of African swine fever from unaffected regions. Germany, a larger supplier of pork than France, is still in talks with Beijing to resume exports.

As for the high export growth rates in the first half of 2023, the main reason is the lower base of last year, the head of the National Union of Pig Breeders notes. The recovery of exports is also helped by the weakening of the ruble and lower domestic prices.

The main buyer of Russian pork is Vietnam (bought twice as much - 46 thousand tons in the first half of the year), Belarus is in second place with a small lag (41.2 thousand tons), Hong Kong is in third (3.8 thousand tons) . The fourth and fifth places are occupied by Kazakhstan and Mongolia (4.2 thousand and 4 thousand tons).

The geopolitical situation in 2022 affected pork exports relatively slightly. Last year, pork exports sank, but not because Western countries refused to buy our pork. Russia did not supply it to the European Union - the Europeans did not let us into their market.

The fall happened mainly in the first half of 2022 due to problems with logistics, the lack of containers due to the refusal of Western carriers to transport domestic products. But already in the second half of the year, these problems were resolved and exports were restored. Therefore, the decline is relatively small for the year - by 10% to 170 thousand tons. Last year, exports to Ukraine fell sharply (by 80%). Exports to Vietnam have halved, and this is the main buyer of our pork. On the other hand, part of the losses was offset by increased exports to Belarus, which tripled to 80.3 thousand tons in 2022 (NSS data).

https://vz.ru/economy/2023/7/27/1222959.html

Sales of Russian ice cream in Africa soar – official, 07.29.2023.

Exports of the sweet frozen dairy product amounted to 600,000 tons last year.

Russian ice-cream sales in African countries saw a major increase by 50% over the four years through 2022, with exports of frozen dessert products to the continent totaling 600,000 tons, according to the head of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture’s Agroexport center, Dmitry Krasnov. 

Speaking at the Russia-Africa forum in St. Petersburg, Krasnov noted that Russian dairy products have recently begun to win over the market on the continent. The official also highlighted a considerable potential for boosting shipments of powdered milk, milk whey and spreads to African nations.

The head of Agroexport explained that Russia produces more than 24 million tons of marketable milk every year, while the country’s annual exports of dairy products exceed 820,000 tons. 

However, he added, deliveries of these products to Africa are still limited, both in terms of geography and in terms of range.

Senegal is the largest buyer of Russian dairy products in Africa, accounting for 71% of total supplies to the continent, according to Krasnov, who said that Moscow sees potential for increasing its exports of dairy products to Algeria, which is ranked among the largest markets for dry dairy produce, as well as to Angola, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Tunisia.

The official also said that the main deliveries of Russian confectionery products are to the states of North Africa, including Libya, Egypt and Tunisia, adding that there is potential for expanding cooperation with Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia and South Africa.

https://www.rt.com/business/580453-russia-sales-africa-ice-cream/

https://www.rt.com/russia/580628-russian-scientists-watermelon-antarctica/

Russian scientists grow watermelons in Antarctica

The researchers hope to eventually be able to grow other fruits and wild berries at all polar bases

“The results of the experiment are impressive – we managed to grow the southernmost watermelons in the most severe conditions of Antarctica,” said leading AARI geophysicist Andrey Teplyakov, who led the project at the Vostok station. “The taste and aroma are no worse than the ones we have at home! The size of the fruits is up to 13 cm in diameter, and their weight is up to 1 kg,” he said.

They would sell like hot cake in Hollywood. 

US more than doubles fertilizer imports from Russia, by Anton Antonov for VZGLYAD. 08.18.2023.

Roscongress pointed to an increase in the supply of fertilizers from Russia to the United States in 2023 by more than two times.

The supply of fertilizers from Russia to the United States in the first quarter of 2023 is estimated at $596 million, in 2022, over the same period, the United States bought Russian fertilizers for $262 million, according to the Roscongress study "Elements of Growth: Supply and Demand in the Fertilizer Market."

The increase in fertilizer purchases occurred "despite the rhetoric of the current White House administration," the study notes. In the list of top export markets for Russian fertilizers, the United States ranks third after India and Brazil. All three countries increased their imports in 2023.

India increased purchases the most - in the first quarter of 2021, fertilizer imports were estimated at $78 million, then in the first quarter of 2023 - almost $708 million, RIA Novosti reports.

However, Russia's share in the European market has declined - its place has been taken by suppliers from Algeria, Egypt, Trinidad and Tobago and the United States. At the same time, the total volume of demand for fertilizers is also falling in this market.

https://vz.ru/news/2023/8/18/1226226.html

Russian fertilizers filled the German market, by Anton Antonov for VZGLYAD. 08.21.2023.

Bild announced Russian fertilizers that filled the German market amid rising costs of their production in Germany.

Due to the refusal of European countries from Russian gas, the cost of fertilizer production in Germany jumped by 150%, the German market was filled with fertilizers from Russia, media reported.

As Bild points out , sanctions do not apply to fertilizers. In Russia itself, "gas is cheap." As a result, the refusal of Russian gas for the chemical industry turned into "fatal consequences." “Gas prices increased by 40%, the cost of producing fertilizers labeled Made in Germany partly by 150%,” TASS quoted the message as saying.

The publication writes that the “gas-intensive production of fertilizers” turned out to be “unprofitable”, and the supply of “Russian fertilizers to the EU, according to industry data, increased fivefold during the year.” In Germany, the industry faced the threat of a production shutdown. BASF has already closed its ammonia plant in Ludwigshafen am Rhein. Now SKWP, which has been in business since 1915, is in trouble; the company complains about “cheap imports legalized by politicians” from Russia.

Sven Schulze, Minister of Economics and Agriculture of the State of Saxony-Anhalt, announced "huge losses". He wonders why Russian imports "were able to grow." According to him, Russia can "as it pleases, reduce the price of gas and thereby significantly subsidize the production of carbamide and ammonia," while production in the EU "is forced to close." He called on Chancellor Olaf Scholz to take action to change the situation.

Recall that a number of industries in Europe were simply closed , mainly energy-intensive chemical plants for the production of mineral fertilizers, and so on, a number of industries were transferred from Europe to the United States. The US also more than doubled its imports of fertilizers from Russia.

https://vz.ru/news/2023/8/21/1226573.html

Russian winemakers are ready to offer domestic wines to replace European ones, by Sergey Vinnik (Crimea) , Alexander Gavrilenko (Rostov-on-Don) , Ekaterina Kovalevskaya (Krasnodar) for Rossiyskaya Gazeta. 08.21.2023.

Grape harvesting has begun in the regions of the south of the country. In the Kuban, they plan to get 270 thousand tons of sunny berries, and this despite the fact that the bad weather and the diseases caused by it at the vines have greatly spoiled the mood of the winegrowers. So don't expect any records this year. But still, such a harvest will make it possible to produce at least 15 million decaliters of wine and almost six million decaliters of champagne.

In August, duties on imported wines from unfriendly countries increased from 12.5 to 20 percent (but not less than $1.5 per liter) in Russia . Experts hope that this will help promote Russian drinks on the shelves. "The market today is filled with foreign wines. The situation is really not easy for Russians, imports have increased , and there is certainly competition with foreign products. Domestic products today are not inferior in quality to imported ones. The assortment is diverse: there are wines of different styles, varieties, production methods. Volumes we are ready to provide,” said Victoria Emelyanovich, CEO of one of the largest industry companies in the Krasnodar Territory.

In Crimea, cleaning starts any day, and in Sevastopol it has already begun. For nine years, about seven thousand hectares of vines have been planted on the peninsula. The uprooting of old plantations, planting new ones, the purchase of seedlings, trellises, and equipment are subsidized by the state. Last year, almost 131,000 tons of grapes were harvested, this year the harvest is expected to be no less. In 2022, over 8.3 million decaliters of wine material were produced in the republic. So in Crimea they feel confident without imported raw materials.

Recently, the Sevastopol Association of Winegrowers and Winemakers turned to the head of the Russian government with a proposal to set a minimum price for foreign wines. The initiative was explained as follows: the shelves were flooded with cheap bottled wine from unfriendly European countries, and taking into account subsidies at home, its price is less than one euro per liter. As a result, imports pushed Russian drinks out of the shelves of retail chains. Minimum import prices will not allow dampening, that is, foreign wine cannot be sold too cheaply.

And in the Rostov region this season, some farms will not get half or even 60-70 percent of the planned harvest, experts say. The reason for this, as in the Kuban, diseases of the vine. "But the Don winemakers are optimists, and even in this situation they see the good. They say that a decrease in volume will have a positive impact on the quality of the final product. In addition, if fewer bottles are produced, the year will be considered rare, and product prices will be higher. And some admit that after the boom of 2014-2020, they have seen a decline in sales for the last two seasons, so there will be a good opportunity to get rid of unsold balances,” said Inara Khalmeeva, a representative of the National Agrarian Agency.

About seven thousand hectares of vines were planted on the Crimean peninsula. Purchase of seedlings, trellises, equipment is subsidized by the state.

At the same time, Don winemakers are closely following market trends. "We work exclusively with grapes that we have grown ourselves. Now we are preparing to double the area. We could have expanded earlier, but we are faced with the problem of a shortage of quality seedlings. Now we are negotiating with several nurseries to purchase seedlings of Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Cabernet Franc. There is a huge demand, products are sold out on the fly. Most likely, we will add another red variety to the structure - malbec," says Vladimir Goncharov, director for the development of the winery.

He believes that it is necessary to popularize Don wines: “If the authorities recommended that regional restaurants give 25 percent of the place in wine lists to local brands, then the situation would change dramatically. The same applies to hotels and other tourist facilities. the country knows Kuban wine, and our products are just as good."

https://rg.ru/2023/08/22/bokal-na-svoj-vkus.html

Having no cheap energy is a bitch

Germany found out what it means to have an oil and metals shortage in WW2, and now they're finding out what it means to have a gas shortage in this war.

Germany found out what it means to have an oil and metals shortage in WW2

Norway has a lot of oil and gas. We went there before. 
Denmark is in the way, but that was no problem the last time. 
Does somebody know in which state the oil production in Romania is?
Just asking for a Scholz... er, friend.

Germany quadruples its imports of Russian fertilizers after its refusal to acquire gas, 08.31.2023.

German imports of nitrogen fertilizers from Russia increased more than fourfold. Moscow also quintupled its exports of this type of fertilizers to the EU. This follows the sanctions against Russian fuels, including gas, an essential component for the production of fertilizers within the EU.

German imports of nitrogen fertilizers from Russia, necessary for agriculture, increased by 334% in the last season to about 167,000 tons, the Association of the German Agricultural Industry reported with reference to the latest data from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis).

In the period between July 2022 and June 2023, this figure was only about 38,500 tons. Thus, Russia's share in total imports went from 5.6% to almost 18% in just one year. According to Destatis, in the first half of 2023, imports of carbamide, which contains the largest amount of nitrogen, increased by 304% year-on-year. At the same time, German importers paid only about 360 euros per ton, compared to 536 euros in the previous season.

The new statistics for Germany echo a pan-European trend, Russia quintupled its nitrogen fertilizer exports to the EU for the 2022-2023 season, bringing its share to 19%.

"Last year, Germany made a big effort to become independent from the Russian gas supply," Martin May, director general of the country's Agricultural Industry Association, told Berliner Zeitung.

However, in his words, gas and energy account for 80-90% of the production costs of fertilizers.

As for the German chemical industry, between July 2021 and June 2022, companies will continue to produce 37% of the total nitrogen fertilizers consumed. Last season, this figure barely reached 5%.

This means that already now 95% of all nitrogen fertilizer is imported into Germany, mainly from Belgium and the Netherlands, the publication explains. The newspaper indicates that 60% of ammonia production in the EU, Switzerland, Norway and the United Kingdom has been paralyzed, including the BASF plant in the German city of Ludwigshafen. Ammonia is an important basic component of nitrogen fertilizers.

This comes as the German federal government confirmed that the country's economy has been in slowdown for three consecutive quarters up to the end of June. Data from the financial website TradingEconomics already show zero growth since the end of the third quarter of 2022, while Capital Economics confirms the cumulative drop in the GDP of the "European locomotive" by 0.5%, which may have a much greater negative impact on other more fragile European economies.

European countries are experiencing an energy crisis due to the restrictions of their governments against Russian fuels due to the special military operation in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the policy of containment and weakening of Russia is a long-term strategy of the West and that the restrictions have dealt a severe blow to the entire world economy. In his words, sanctions against Moscow harm those who impose them the most.

Yandex Translate from Spanish

https://sputniknews.lat/20230831/alemania-cuadruplica-sus-importaciones-de-fertilizantes-rusos-tras-la-negativa-de-adquirir-gas-1143215035.html

Posting it here as the colonization of the Tver region and surrounding regions by a significant amount of Afrikaner families can lead to a noticeable effect on Russian agriculture first and foremost.
Although I wouldn't say that these territories represent Russia's prime agricultural soil. For cattle husbandry and dairy farming, it's just fine of course, and of course potatoes grow fine there too.

https://rg.ru/2023/08/06/v-tverskoj-oblasti-nachalos-stroitelstvo-afrikanskoj-derevni.html

The construction of the African village began in the Tver region
Andrey Kalashnikov


On August 4, 2023, in the Tver region, near the village of Porechye, Bologovsky district, the ceremony of laying the first stone for the construction of the Afrovillage took place.

The event was attended by deputies of the Legislative Assembly of the Tver region, employees of the executive authorities of the region, employees of the representative office of the African International Congress in Russia. As well as African diplomats, leaders of African communities, representatives of the Investment Russia organization.

At the ceremony, the flag of the African International Congress was raised with the outline of Africa on a golden background.

- We plan to create 30 colonies in Russia for Afrikaners (Boer Europeans) who have decided to emigrate from Africa to Russia. These are European farmers who settled on the African continent many years ago,” Konstantin Klimenko, rector of the Eurasian International University, General Representative of the African International Congress in the Russian Federation, said at the opening of the Afrovillage.

- Many Afrikaners have now converted to Orthodoxy and are moving to Russia - they are attracted by our country, as a state with a high moral and spiritual order, with traditional family values.

It is assumed that on the site, equipped with all the necessary engineering infrastructure, there will be a settlement of immigrants from the countries of the African continent, who will be engaged in agriculture - grow potatoes or breed cows.

The grown crop and milk are ready to be received by the farmer and project participant Alexei Trofimov. His agricultural enterprise will become the base for the Afrovillage project, provide new settlers with technological and organizational support, and provide them with resources: from seeds to equipment. On Friday, the first step towards the implementation of plans was taken - the Milkburg cheese factory was opened.

The Afrovillage project in a pilot format is now being implemented in the Moscow and Tver regions. Then, through the efforts of the AMK and its partners, it will be extended to other subjects of the Russian Federation, where regional administrations will be able to offer attractive conditions for migrants.

The program is designed for 5 years. About 3,000 Afrikaner heads of families, plus their family members, are planned to be resettled in Russia. Already on September 1, the Eurasian International University is launching an educational program in the Russian language, about 200 people will study the language in the online courses of the university.

It is assumed that Afrikaner migrants will also become micro-investors in their new homeland: they will build their houses here, open small businesses, kindergartens, first-aid posts, etc.

Another delegation of Afrikaners will visit the Russian Federation in September this year