Ag ministry says Russian food aid program may cover 19 mln people

MOSCOW, May 26 (PRIME) -- Russia’s food aid program for impoverished families may cover 19 million people, First Deputy Agriculture Minister Dzhambulat Khatuov told PRIME on Friday.

“The program has a vast potential. We can reach up to 19 million people with an income below the poverty line,” Khatuov said.

About 25 million people in Russia have meals in budget establishments: educational, healthcare and social aid centers, and the food prepared there must be cooked with domestically produced ingredients, he also said.

“These measures give an opportunity to provide vulnerable people with balanced food and also to form a guaranteed extra demand for domestic food, which is extremely important for farmers,” Khatuov said.

Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said earlier in May that the food aid program will be launched in July–December 2018, while its full-scale implementation will take place in 2019. He also said the ministry estimates the cost of the program at 200–300 billion rubles per year.

(56.0701 rubles – U.S. $1)

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