Tatarstan may see launch of farmer aggregator
The farmers themselves are not pleased with this and predict an increase in the cost of local produce from the field
In Tatarstan, following 13 regions of Russia, an aggregator for farmers may appear. Its essence is simple — agricultural producers bring products to a centre, and from there they are distributed to shops. “A great many farmers sell their products through private individuals, by word of mouth and so on. At the same time, they set their own price, which they consider appropriate. If there is such a certain hub where everything will be purchased, there will most likely be a centralised price, and for most farmers it will seem that they are being paid too little,” commented Ramil Galimzyanov, director general of Helix Group PLC. Read more in the material of Realnoe Vremya.
Agro-aggregator is already operating in 13 regions
The X5 Group of companies (Pyaterochka, Perekrestok, Chizhik, Okolo, Victoria, Krasny Yar and Slata) is considering the possibility of opening an aggregator in Tatarstan to work with regional farmers. This was reported to Realnoe Vremya by the company’s press service.
Earlier, the company announced the launch of the aggregator in 13 regions, namely in the Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Volgograd, Sverdlovsk, Astrakhan, Bryansk, Voronezh, Rostov and Lipetsk regions, the Khabarovsk and Krasnodar territories, as well as in the republics neighbouring Tatarstan — Udmurtia and Mari El.
As X5 notes, the agro-aggregator is a collection centre for products from regional farmers who bring their goods there. In turn, it provides storage, packaging, grading, labelling and transportation to the chain’s stores. It is noted that the stores guarantee the sale of goods in accordance with demand and at a price beneficial to both parties.
An additional link is a bad thing
Chairman of the Association of Farmers of Tatarstan Kamiyar Baytemirov told Realnoe Vremya that such a support measure would lead to an increase in the cost of the product for the final consumer.
According to him, all products produced by agricultural consumer cooperatives in Tatarstan are certified under the Merkuriy system.
“Most farmers will feel that they are being paid too little”
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Food of Tatarstan, the republic has 2,600 farms and 401,000 personal subsidiary plots. Last year, they produced 42% of the republic’s gross agricultural output — worth 142 billion rubles. The volume of agricultural products amounted to: 721,000 tonnes of milk, 137,000 tonnes of meat, 330 million eggs, 881,000 tonnes of grain, 839,000 tonnes of potatoes, and 214,000 tonnes of vegetables.
