MeatRussia reports Viktor Zubkov, First Deputy Minister of the Russian Government, saying, "We shall reduce meat and poultry imports quota while domestic production grows in Russia."

"For example, if we increase pork production by 17% this year, then we shall reduce pork imports by the same volume," he said, adding, "Today we often observe the situation when Russian products are not supplied to trade network because distributors are pressed with imported equivalents.

"About 200,000 tons of chicken meat of domestic production is stored at our warehouses, whereas American drumsticks are accepted for distribution," he said.

Mr Zubkov added that Russian agricultural complex can reach annual growth of 17-20% in different sectors of the meat production industry, and first of all in pork and poultry manufacturing.