Later the acting president met with heads of agricultural companies and related industries located in the Oryol Region. Mr Putin pointed out that the most pressing and contentious issues in the agricultural sector must be tackled by federal government bodies, with the active involvement of regions.
The acting president agreed with the view of some experts that foreign agricultural products have advantages on the Russian market over domestic producers and noted that caution was needed in changing the situation so as to avoid any effect on the quality and price of agricultural products.
Mr Putin also stressed the need to reduce bureaucracy in agricultural management.
At the end of his trip to the Oryol Region, the acting president answered journalists’ questions. He indicated that great care was needed in creating a system of free trade in farm land in Russia. The only way to solve the problem was to pass basic legislation that would set the main regulations for land transactions.
The acting president said that work was under way on the composition of a new government. He assessed the work done to develop the agricultural sector in the Oryol Region and answered a question about the prospects for Russia’s agricultural machine-building industry.