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Date: Mon, 26 Oct 1998 11:39:32 -0800
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From: Sid Shniad <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Hunger side by side with plenty: free market works its marvels
in Russia
X-UID: 1397
THE VANCOUVER SUN FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1998
HOPE COLLIDES WITH REALITY AT RUSSIAN FOOD FAIR
Daniel Williams
The Washington Post
MOSCOW =97 The contrast could hardly have been more striking. Last week, in =
a
big exhibition hall in central Moscow, food producers showed off delicious
wares to eager wholesalers, supermarket owners and restaurant proprietors.
At the same moment in the same hall the minister of agriculture was telling
reporters how Russia planned to avoid hunger this winter in the face of low
harvests and reduced imports, the latter a byproduct of the country's
economic crisis.
It was a vivid display of hope versus reality in Russian food production.
Food producers hope that they can fill the gap of reduced imports with
domestic goods. In reality, Russia, as was the case in the old Soviet Union
fails to fill its national food needs.
This year, the situation borders on catastrophe.
Russia's wheat harvest is the worst in 40 years, government statistics
show. The potato harvest is also sharply down, because of a dry summer and
a wet harvest season. As a result the government of Prime Minister Yevgeny
Primakov is scrambling to guarantee supplies.
Primakov has announced the creation of emergency food reserves to prepare
for shortages. His representatives have reached out to the European Union
and the United States for food purchases and humanitarian aid.
Russia's food needs are difficult to measure precisely. The wheat crop
amounted to only 50 million tons this year, compared with 88 million tons
in 1997. Russian officials say, however that about 20 million tons remain
in reserve from last year's harvest.
Russia also is making commercial wheat deals with Belarus, Ukraine and
Romania in the old Soviet manner =97 by barter. Russia plans to get grain in
return for fuel, either new supplies or by erasing debt for old deliveries.
With these sources, Russia may need only three million tonnes of wheat from
the West, some Russian analysts say
Russia does not produce enough basic goods such as sugar and cooking oil
for domestic consumption. The government has proposed reducing tariffs on
these goods as well as other foods to stimulate imports and fill shelves.
In all, Russia imported one third of its food last year. Much of its Soviet
era production of food items such as chicken and pork has been crippled or
destroyed by bad management, insufficient financing, transportation
problems, primitive marketing and poor quality.
But prices for foreign goods have skyrocketed. Since the Aug. 17
devaluation of the ruble it takes more than twice as many rubles to buy a
dollar's worth of food from abroad. Russian salaries have remained flat and
demand has been flattened further by the layoffs of thousands of workers.
Primakov is counting on devaluation, which prices imports out of reach of
many Russians, to stimulate domestic industry, including food production.
Foreign manufacturers are already feeling the squeeze; in the Netherlands,
for instance, the Philips electronics company announced layoffs of dozens
of workers at a plant that makes vacuum cleaners destined for Russia.
Payment delays caused by bank closures also have stalled imports.
But despite these boosts to domestic products, vendors at the exhibition
Russian Food '98 described devaluation as a mixed blessing. Customers'
buying power has declined. Moreover, most producers must import foreign
materials =97 cigarette makers need tobacco, cellophane wrappers and fancy
packaging; sausage makers need high quality skins and various exotic meats,
ice cream makers need chocolate. These must be bought with dollars.
"Some things are just an issue of quality and we can't just substitute
Russian goods for imports," said Ivan Semonenko, a marketer at the Russky
Produkt booth at the fair.
Russky Produkt makes a wide range of products, including macaroni, mostly
from Russian wheat. Sales have boomed as prices for Italian pasta climbed.
Semonenko, 18, dreams of more success. "We are looking to fill our needs
through domestic suppliers as much as possible. We think we can keep prices
relatively low and attract more customers. Our noodles will come out on
top. We've had a lot more inquiries than we expected at this fair," he said.
It was strange to see the abundance amid public concern about hunger.
About 400 food, liquor and cigarette producers gathered at the Manezh Plaza
exhibition hall outside the Kremlin walls. Yet, among the promotional conga
lines and salespeople dressed up like bottles of water, one could catch a
glimpse of the weaknesses as well as progress in the Russian food industry.
Many vodka distilleries, confectioners and cigarette makers were present;
there were fewer processed meat producers, bakeries and dairies.
Some vendors predicted boom times. Alexander Pshentsov said he believed
sales of his canned and smoked fish will rise. His Saleharbsky Conserved
Fish Factory, in the distant Arctic Circle region of Yamalo Nenets,
competes with salmon and herring imports from Scandinavia. "It is strange,
but the crisis was positive for us," he said. "Interest in our products has
gone up simply because imports are more expensive."
Photo caption --
CARRYING THEIR WAGES: Two unemployed women carry bags with potatoes they
received Thursday as payment for work at collective farm near village of
Samokhvalovichi, 25 km south of Minsk. People must work four days every
month to obtain a state unemployment benefit of 600,000 Belarussian rubles
($6.23 Cdn).,
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
THE VANCOUVER SUN FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23,1998
CHILD DEATHS IN RUSSIA 'STAGGERING'
Anna Blundy, The Times of London
MOSCOW=97Russia is suffering a huge toll of child deaths that is five times
the rate in the rest of Europe, says a report commissioned by UNICEF.
Poverty, alcohol related violence and lower standards for child safety are
among the factors cited for the staggering levels of child mortality.
Seven times the number of children aged between one and 19 die every year
in Russia compared to the figure for the United Kingdom, which is one of
the lowest in Europe, according to the report.
Of the 20,000 infant deaths in Russia every year, out of a total
population of 150 million, 10,000 are caused by accident, injuries,
poisoning and violence.
The report, published this week and carried out by the London School of
Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, based on data provided by the World Health
Organization, showed that in 1994 1,390 children drowned in Russia compared
to 51 in England and Wales.
In a separate report put together for a conference on the protection of
Russian children last year, it was shown that in 1996, 17,000 children were
the victims of violent attacks, 200 children were killed by their mothers
and 2,000 committed suicide.
David Leon, author of the UN children's agency report, said: "The
terrifying thing about these figures is the near misses that the figures
hide."
A U.S. study showed that, for every fatality in the under 19s, there were
400 hospital admissions and 900 severe injuries.
This means that in Russia more than a million children a year suffer
serious injuries. Although most of these figures have remained stable since
the early 1980s, the deaths caused by violence have risen sharply since the
end of communism in 1991, because of unemployment and alcoholism.
More than 10 million people have lost their jobs since the early 1990s and
divorce rates have soared from 3.8 per 1,000 in 1993 to 4.6 per thousand
only two years later. All these things are known to affect child care and
standard of living.=09
--
Michael Perelman
Economics Department
California State University
Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321
E-Mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
