MOSCOW, August 7 (RIA Novosti) – A decrease in the amount of imported goods on the Russian market will support domestic production and enhance national food security, Anatoly Lisitsyn, a member of Russia’s State Council, said Thursday.
“The share of imported products in our shops has reached 45 percent. A decline in the share of imported products will support domestic agricultural producers and enhance our food security,” Lisitsyn said.
The development of the Russia’s agriculture is essential for security and sovereignty of the country, the State Council member said.
“Comparing final prices, Western countries’ components of agricultural production costs … are higher than ours by two to 10 times, and the cost of work force is 30 to 200 times higher. Under such conditions, the development of agriculture, with appropriate support from the government, in the long term could become the cornerstone of Russia’s lifestyle,” Lisitsyn added.
On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin singed an order on economic measures to protect the country's security. The decree banned for a year imports of agricultural and food products from countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia. The complete “blacklist” of imports is expected to be announced later on Thursday.
The European Union, the United States, Canada and Japan have compiled sanctions lists against Russian companies, banks, politicians, as well as the financial, energy and defense sectors of the Russian economy. The move has been linked to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Moscow has repeatedly called the measures counterproductive and stressed that Russia was never involved in the Ukrainian conflict.
