ELISTA, June 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russia needs independence from the foreign market but transition to it should be very careful, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the meeting with agrarians in Kalmyk capital Elista (southern Russia). According to him, the state gives much attention to agricultural problems. "We are ready for further steps to protect and support Russian producers. However, they should be very careful not to inflict damage on the consumer market and prevent growth of meat prices," the head of state said. He spoke about "the great dependence on meat imports." "Last year imported meat prices grew by 40%. It influenced prices on the domestic market," Putin added.
"Consumers' interests are the final goal and decisions in this sphere should be balanced," he said.
According to Putin, agricultural growth was 1.6% in 2004.
"This is lower than the economic growth rate as a whole, therefore, we should revise agricultural problems," he said.
A number of steps were taken recently to improve the situation.
"The results are obvious. We turned into grain exporters from grain importers," Putin said.
However, there are many problems, particularly, in the sphere of cattle breeding, the president added.
