SFD milk producers protest against low purchase price

Producers of milk from the regions of the South Federal District (SFD) are protesting against low purchase prices of their products, which for today, according to their version, are by ten percent below the production cost.

Within the protest action planned for July 31 at the dairy farm in the city of Ust-Labinsk, Krasnodar Territory, milk producers from the SFD planned to pour down about 100 tons of milk into manure; however, later they postponed the action, having believed the promise of the territorial administration to seek the way out of the situation.

The action was initiated by the "Kuban" Agrarian Complex - one of the largest in the Krasnodar Territory. Two years ago, in 2007, the milk purchase price was 17 roubles (1 US dollar is 31.5 roubles) per litre, in 2008 - 14 roubles, and by June 2009 it dropped down to 8.5 roubles per litre. According to the Holding, the production cost is 9.9 roubles per litre.

The "Caucasian Knot" was informed at the Holding that by milking some 100 tons of milk per day, the producer has 100,000 roubles of losses daily. Similar losses, according to the Holding's officials, are now suffered by about 90 percent of all milk producers of the Krasnodar Territory.

At the same time, the territorial leaders assure that in Kuban milk production yields 15 percent of profit. Earlier, officials from the Krasnodar territorial department for agriculture and processing industries kept stating that the protests of milk producers are "just pre-planned PR-actions of major agrarian producers."