© RIA Novosti / Michael Klimentyev
Agriculture Minister, Alexander Tkachyov stated on Tuesday that Russia will be less reliant on food imports in future, hoping to eliminate them from the market altogether by 2025.
Such a move would require, of course, considerable state support - a sum of 2 trillion roubles ($35 billion) over the next five years. Nevertheless, it will undoubtedly be a huge boost to domestic agriculture. Tkachyov, appointed in April to boost agriculture development remarked that as a result of sanctions, domestic producers have greatly benefited as the cost of imported food was raised. In addition he says it is in demand by the Russian public itself:
Although counter-sanction measures are to be in place till 6th August 2016, it seems the sanctions put in place by the EU have inspired a re-think of Russia's agricultural policy for years to come."Domestic products are sought after on shop shelves; they are in demand. There is now something of a trend - people want to see national produce and they trust it because it is good quality and they know where it's come from".
Comment: These sanctions are harming Europe more than Russia. Europeans should really begin to see that they are a prime target in this economic warfare. But, before the West wakes up, it's obvious that Washington plans on taking everyone down.