The Head of Ministry of Agriculture of Russia (Minselkhoz), Aleksey Gordeev, has not excluded the introduction of quotas for egg and poultry production within the near future in Russia, reports Meat Russia.

The Minister said, "Currently, we are facing egg over-production in Russia." In 2008, egg production totalled to 37.8 billion eggs.

"We may face the same situation in poultry production in three years, as the annual increase in poultry production amounts to 15 to 16 per cent," he said.

He said that poultry production output would meet Russia's target for food security – 80 per cent domestic production and 20 per cent imported – by 2010.

Poultry production quotas may become a useful market tool of state regulation in future, believes Vadim Kamyshev, the member of Mosselprom's Board of Directors. However, to achieve it, the government should continue supporting domestic producers rather than slowing the growth rates of import substitution, which is very important within the global economic downturn, when the access to credit funds is limited.

The General Director of Stavropol Broiler, Dmitry Aveltsov, is sure the market "is able to regulate itself". He said: "Weak and inefficient production companies will die within the conditions of hard competition in the internal market," reports Meat Russia.