General information

On 16-17 September 2009, Moscow hosted the 3rd Russian Agricultural Outlook Forum as part of the World Food Moscow trade exhibition. This year, the forum focussed on the effect of the global economic crisis on the markets for agricultural raw materials and food, as well as recovery solutions. The forum was attended by spokesmen from the RF Government, the RF State Duma, trade ministries and agencies, international and Russian experts, as well as heads of Russian companies and CEOs of other major companies.

On the opening day, the first plenary session featured contributions from Victor Semyonov, Chairman of ASSAGROS (Association of Sectoral Unions of Agribusiness Complex of Russia) and State Duma Deputy; Musheg Mamikonyan, Chairman of Russia's Meat Union; Boris Bogitko, spokesman for Rospotrebnadzor (Federal Service for Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare of Russia); and Matthew Shane, Senior Macroeconomic Expert, Economic Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture.

The following session was devoted to the situation in the global agricultural markets and the impact of the crisis on the sector. Individual observations and forecasts in each individual segment were shared by spokesmen from trade associations in countries that export food to Russia: Pamela Bongiovanni, Director of the Sadia Representative Office in Moscow (meat sector, Brazil); Otavio Cançado, Director of ABIEC (Brazil); Sarah Paterson, Fonterra (Europe) GmbH (dairy sector); Alexander Visser, President of Alexport bv; Alexander Visser, Import Export Fresh Produce (fruit/vegetables, the Netherlands); and Ed Allen, Senior Economist at the Economic Research Service (ERS) (world grain market).

A popular feature was the round table on the prospects of Russia's agri-food sector, chaired by Dmitry Rylko, General Director of the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies (IKAR), which was attended by Andrei Klepach, Deputy Minister for Economic Development of the Russian Federation; Valentin Denisov, Chairman of the State Duma Agriculture Committee; Arkady Zlochevsky, President of the Russian Grains Union; Musheg Mamikonyan, Chairman of Russia's Meat Union; Andrei Bodin, Chairman of SOYUZROSSAKHAR (Russian Sugar Producers Union); Vladimir Labinov, Chairman of the Dairy Union, as well as big business representatives, such as Andrei Danilenko, President of Russkiye Fermy; and Valery Sergachov, Feedshock Director at EFKO.

The first day was concluded by a session focussing on agribusiness investment inflows, agribusiness financing, and financial management tools for crisis management, which heard contributions by Semyon Epshtein, Managing Partner of the Padva & Epstein law firm; Andy Tyler, Partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers; Tatyana Krooimans, Chairwoman of Rabobank commercial bank; Vadim Gusakov, Head of the Department for Strategic Analysis and Statistics at OAO Rosagrolizing, etc.

The spokesmen for the legislative and executive authorities, sectoral unions and associations, and CEOs of Russian and foreign companies concurred that there are signs that the economy has already reached its lowest point and is starting on an upward swing. "We are beginning to bounce back," said the first speaker, Victor Semyonov, Chairman of ASSAGROS and member of the State Duma.

The forum's second day was devoted to a review of the demand for basic food stuffs and how it has changed as a result of the crisis. The latest data was presented by spokesmen for major analytical agencies based in Russia and elsewhere, including Euromonitor, Nielsen, Business Analytica, GFK Rus and A.T. Kearney Russia. Damir Imamovich, Vice President of Produkty Pitanya, a major manufacturer of frozen convenience foods, described his experience in overcoming recessionary trends in the distribution of food stuffs.

Delegates showed particular interest in a round table focussing on issues within the food retailing sector, relating to the adoption of a law on retailing.  The round table was attended by Ilya Belonovsky, Executive Director of the AKORT association of retailers; Vladimir Karnaukhov, Chairman of a major supermarket chain, Sedmoy Kontinent (Seventh Continent); Maksim Volgarev, Executive Director of the SPAR supermarket chain, Yulia Mikhalycheva, General Director of Padva & Epshtein law firm; Irina Kanunnikova, Director of the Union of Independent Chains of Russia (SNSR); Alexei Popovichev, Executive Director of the Commonwealth of Brand Manufacturers in Russia (RusBrand); and Victor Nosov, Director of the Factoring Department of OAO Promsvyazbank.

The forum's final address centred on the issues of streamlining a corporate product range in an environment of declining solvent demand. Contributions were made by Denis Shirikov, Head of the Retailer Accounts Division, Nielsen Russia; Alexei Trefilov, Marketing Director of ZAO Talin; Sergei Pankratov, Marketing Manager of EFES group in Russia; and Igor Kachalov, President of Kachalov and Colleagues.

Over two days, the forum was attended by over 380 people, representing over 200 companies from 35 countries.  These included spokesmen from Ministries and agencies, RF State Duma, trade associations, staff of diplomatic missions and think tanks.

The forum was covered by over 60 journalists from information agencies and press.

The forum was supported by the RF Ministry of Agriculture.

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