Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel held a meeting devoted to the development of the region’s rural areas on March 22, 2007, reports the Governor’s press officer.

The local players sold us 7,000 tons of milk last year; the figure is expected to rise to 10,000 tons this year and to 20,000 tons in 2008; the producers are also estimated to supply 20,000 tons of meat in two years’ time.

‘There are 239,732 agricultural households in the Mid-Urals today, but only 65,000 rural dwellers actually raise cattle. This is obviously very little. There are a few reasons for this: for one thing, the farmers are growing old (50% of people living in the villages have already retired). Then, people of working age don’t fancy dealing in meat and milk production because of the unattractive prices the buyers can offer. Finally, rural dwellers cannot afford to take loans as they are unable to provide impressive collaterals,’ Sverdlovsk Region Minister for Agriculture and Food Sergey Chemesov explained.