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Poultry, as well as pork, could lead Russia to become a global leader in meat production, if Russia builds out the needed infrastructure, Medvedev said Tuesday.
Russia may export 60 times more pork and poultry by 2020, even as it seeks to build its food security by reducing dependence on imported meat, Agriculture Minister Yelena Skrynnik said Tuesday.
New technologies have made Russian meat more competitive on the international market, Skrynnik said a meeting of the State Council's presidium in the Belgorod region village of Malobykovo.
"We're keeping pace with the times and the technological process. By our estimates, export volumes could be up to 400,000 tons of poultry and 200,000 tons of pork. That's $1.5 billion to $2 billion a year," she said, compared with a combined 10,000 tons of exports last year.
Russia, currently among the world's largest meat importers, may become a leader in meat production if it creates the necessary infrastructure, said President Dmitry Medvedev, who chaired the meeting.
"We need to start with something. In that case, Russia will see big prospects to become an influential player at the international food market," he said, stressing that having meat available for domestic consumption would remain the priority.
Medvedev signed a new food security doctrine in February, which called for 85 percent of all meat consumed in the country to be produced domestically by 2020.
According to figures from the Russian Poultry Union, poultry meat production rose 16 percent in the first half of the year to 1.33 million tons. The group estimated that Russia imported 120,000 tons over the same period.
Skrynnik said in April that meat production would increase 5 percent this year.
But the recent heat wave could spoil Russia's plans this year, with a total of 9.3 million hectares of crops already destroyed.
During a government meeting Monday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned farmers against slaughtering livestock, saying that there would be enough grain to feed them.
During his trip to the Belgorod region Tuesday, Medvedev visited a food processing plant, where he asked for a sample of chocolate candy fresh from the production line.
An employee wouldn't let him sample the candy, however, saying it needed to cool first, Interfax reported.
The disappointed Medvedev said he was fond of candy and eats a lot of it, and he praised the production line for being compact enough to use at home.
"They also make sweets here. Tried some — I have a sweet tooth though it is not healthy," Medvedev wrote on his Twitter page later Tuesday.
