In his opening address Viktor Zubkov described the efforts taken by regional authorities and the Ministry of Agriculture to prevent and eliminate African Swine Fever (ASF) in Russia as insufficient.

"Far from all regions are following the regulations and recommendations on how to keep pigs, prevent or eliminate ASF, or to step up awareness efforts," he said.

"The Ministry of Agriculture is not effective enough in carrying out the order to introduce an electronic system for the preparation and issue of accompanying veterinary documents. According to regional associations, the issuing of documents has become even more complicated in some regions. This situation forces businesspeople to transport animal husbandry products illegally. I hereby instruct the Ministry of Agriculture to investigate the problem, adopt urgent measures, and report back. It is necessary that we organise a clear and comprehensible system for issuing documents," he said.

The deputy prime minister also criticised the Ministry of Agriculture for the unreasonable amount of time they took in drafting the bill On Veterinary Medicine. He urged the Ministry of Agriculture to speed up their efforts to finalise and agree it with the concerned parties, and to submit it to the government. "The debate on provisions of the bill On Veterinary Medicine cannot be an excuse for the spread of ASF," he stressed.

Separately, Viktor Zubkov noted the importance of complying with the existing veterinary regulations at the regional and municipal levels, focussing in particular on the situation in the Krasnodar Territory. "On orders from the government of Russia, the Prosecutor General's Office has looked into how veterinary legislation is implemented in the region, revealing an inadequate performance of their duties by some executive branch officials, local governments, and supervision agencies," he said. "It is also necessary to step up inter-regional cooperation within the framework of the Ministry of Agriculture's ASF Headquarters," he said.

A harsher punishment for breaches of veterinary legislation has been included in amendments to the Code of Administrative Offenses that have been drafted on the orders of the Russian government, he said. The underlying principles for a bill to this effect have been endorsed by the Presidential Executive Office, and the government is preparing to submit it to the Duma. Specifically, fines will be increased by several times over for breaching the quarantine rules and concealing cases of sudden cattle mortality in a quarantine zone: to 4,000-5,000 roubles for individuals (an increase of five times); to 40,000-50,000 for officials (20 times); and to 500,000-700,000 roubles for entrepreneurs (up to 1,000,000 roubles in a quarantine zone).

Viktor Zubkov also ordered that in addition to administrative measures some economic leverage be devised that would enhance the efficiency of ASF prevention.

"Since 2007, regional budgets have paid 1.3 billion roubles in ASF compensations. These considerable funds might have been used to encourage the development of agriculture, rather than to eliminate the consequences of someone's irresponsibility. To improve the situation, the Ministry of Agriculture should use new state regulatory tools more vigorously – I mean those described by the Law On Agricultural Insurance and the powers of regional veterinary services in terms of assigning a zoo-veterinary status to agricultural companies," he said.

Zubkov instructed the Ministry of Agriculture to draft the necessary bylaws to enable the implementation, as of January 2013, of the federal agricultural insurance legislation in relation to pig insurance as a mandatory prerequisite for agricultural producers to receive subsidies. According to the legislation currently in effect, this opportunity can be enjoyed by all agricultural producers except owners of private farm holdings and agricultural cooperatives.

Zubkov also urged the regional authorities, the Russian Agricultural Bank, and the Russian Agricultural Leasing Company to take into account the zoo-sanitary status of pig farms as they estimate risks involved in prospective loan contracts and leasing agreements.