Russia has unveiled plans to replace poultry imports with locally produced birds in 2011, suggesting imports could be halted as early as next year. "In fact, I think we will be able to refrain from imports next year and in the following years," Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said.
Officials earlier had pledged the country would fully substitute imports from 2012. In the past several years, domestic poultry production increased by more than 70 percent, Putin said. "We imported nearly 1.5 million tonnes of poultry from the United States not so long ago," but the number is down to some 300,000 tonnes this year, he was quoted as saying in a government press service statement.
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