Page 97 - bne IntelliNews monthly country report Russia February 2024

management, while the previous management still oversees production. The Chechen leaders are described as acting professionally without major conflicts. Despite initial concerns, Zakriev hasn't dismissed the previous team but appointed some subordinates to managerial roles. Danone is quietly preparing to sell its business, hoping to find a Kremlin-approved buyer for its Russian assets.
9.2.6 Agriculture corporate news
In Russia, the situation in poultry farming is worsening - since June, the poultry population has been resuming slowly, the monthly output of increasingly expensive chicken and eggs has been declining year on year, writes Kommersant.
In June-October, the bird population decreased to 462.7 million, or by 3.2% year-on-year. From July to October, monthly chicken production decreased, although for the year as a whole there was still an increase in October. Egg production in September and October decreased by 1.1% and 0.9%, to 3.09–3.18 million pieces, respectively.
According to Rosstat, over the year to November, chicken prices have risen many times faster than official inflation - by almost 30%, eggs - by 40%.
What's the matter? According to Kommersant, on the supply side the problem is the import of hatching eggs and vaccines.
Neither is subject to sanctions yet, but last year the import of hatching eggs decreased by 34%, this year by another 28%, with a corresponding effect on the livestock, the newspaper’s sources say. The effect is not as strong as it could have been a few years ago: in 2022, the share of imported hatching eggs decreased to 10%, in 2019 it was 20%.
More important, it seems, are vaccines. From September 1 of this year, supplies of veterinary drugs to Russia are allowed only from foreign enterprises that have been tested for compliance with GMP requirements. Key vaccines from the American MSD Animal Health and Elanco have not been certified. They make it possible to increase stocking density in poultry farms, and less healthy birds, on the contrary, weigh less and produce lower meat and egg productivity. It was this summer that the situation with bird flu in Russia worsened, Kommersant notes.
Another factor is the increase in producer costs due to the ruble exchange rate and rising rates. Thus, the price of equipment and veterinary drugs has risen by about a quarter, feed grain has risen even more, and soybean meal (which remains imported since the times of the USSR) has risen by the same amount as the devaluation of the ruble. At the same time, demand, spurred by the
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