Addressing the meeting Mr Zubkov said that the Russian Government could earmark 72 billion roubles this year for the construction and refurbishment of livestock and dairy farms. He said that the initiative had the support of the Prime Minister. Mr Zubkov urged the need to "expeditiously conduct the work with all the ministries and agencies concerned" and "increase the production of meat and dairy products this year".
Among the priority tasks of the Ministry in 2009 the First Deputy Prime Minister named more effective use of government investments in the development of agro-industrial production, maintaining the pace and scale of implementation of the corresponding government programme at least at the 2008 level and import replacement, especially of poultry meat and pork.
The First Deputy Prime Minister believes that one of the Ministry's key tasks is "solving the old problem of the warehouse infrastructure and preservation of Russia's position as a high-quality grain exporter". "We have learned how to grow wheat, but we are lagging behind on the issues of storage and elevators," he said. He referred to the Russian President's directive on the creation of a grain company. "It is necessary to start work without delay in order to have a clear-cut programme for the creation of grain storage capacity in the country," he stressed.
In the opinion of the First Deputy Prime Minister, the Agriculture Ministry must quickly determine the law-making priorities and pay particular attention to the solution of land issues. Mr Zubkov said that the Ministry's legislative work should include finalising the food security doctrine, the development of the Concept of Sustained Development of Rural Territories and the corresponding section in the draft law On Trade.