First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov has attended a meeting of the National Non-Governmental Organisation the Russian Agrarian Movement and the Association of Farms, which was devoted to the Government Programme of Anti-Crisis Measures for 2009.
Addressing the meeting, Mr Zubkov noted that "in the crisis conditions Government demand is a key factor in stabilising the economy". He said that the "Government is taking measures to stimulate the supply of domestic products to fill the state order". "We should phase out the practice of procuring imported goods for state needs", the First Deputy Prime Minister stressed.
Mr Zubkov noted that everyone should be ready to work in an anti-crisis mode over the next two years. "We should all understand that we are introducing a regime of austerity and enhancement of effective spending. There will be no money to burn," the First Deputy Prime Minister stressed.
Speaking about the prices of dairy products Mr Zubkov said that the Government was not planning to fix the prices for whole milk, but it expected the producers, processors and sellers of dairy products to negotiate adequate and fair prices themselves. He said that purchase interventions in the powdered milk market would be made beginning from May 1. "If prices grow demand will drop further", the First Deputy Prime Minister said. So it is necessary to agree "on an adequate price level that would be profitable for all the sectors but would not scare away buyers". He noted that the producers and sellers of mineral fertiliser have already signed such an agreement.