Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachyov said earlier this month that Russian farmers will push foreign food imports off the Russian market entirely in the course of just 10 years, news agency TASS reported.
“The main task that faces Russian agriculture is to accelerate import substitution. In 10 years domestic food products ought to replace and squeeze out imported ones 100 percent,” Tkachyov was quoted by TASS as saying.
Russian politicians have been increasingly bullish on the prospects of domestic agriculture since Russia last year imposed a ban on select food imports from countries with sanctions against Moscow over its role in the Ukraine crisis.