Participants in the meeting discussed issues related to improving the efficiency of the state regulation of the markets for agricultural produce, raw materials and food.

First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov, opening the meeting of the working group, said: "We've discussed the regulation of agricultural markets for two years now, but no clear solutions to this problem have been presented so far. In this context, the Ministry of Agriculture must focus on implementing the instructions of the president and the government on this issue, in full and on a tight schedule. These instructions include the modernisation of the intervention mechanism, as well as the introduction and use of stock exchange and collateral mechanisms."

"Only this effort will enable our agricultural producers to get the most out of their hard labour," Zubkov emphasised. "This task is all the more urgent considering the good harvest that we expect this year, as well as the substantial funds that the government allocated for the development of the agro-industrial sector (AIS) and overcoming the aftereffects of the droughts in 2009 and 2010," he added.

"The full and speedy implementation of the instructions of the president and the government will also help us to reach the goals of the national priority project on AIS development," Zubkov continued. He recalled that in 2010 agricultural production was 16% below the targeted level, domestic production on the dairy market was more than 3% below the target and the rate of modernising agricultural equipment was three times slower than planned. The power supply capacity and labour productivity in agriculture remain low (96% and 87% of the planned targets), he said.

During the discussion the commission's members noted in particular the need for additional calculations, and a justification for the budgetary allocation requested for a special intervention fund.

After the meeting Zubkov instructed the Ministry of Agriculture to do the following:

- to draft specific measures for reaching the main targets of the national project in 2011 to compensate for the failure to achieve them in 2010;

- to analyse the effectiveness of the existing mechanisms for regulating the agricultural market; based on the analysis, submit proposals for upgrading the system of state interventions and other mechanisms for protecting the market against price fluctuations, including stock exchange and collateral mechanisms; reduce costs all along the agricultural chain, increase the financial stability of agricultural producers, increase the investment activities of AIS industries, develop the infrastructure and logistics of the agricultural markets;

- to report on the results of this work to the government before September 15, 2011.