Impact of COVID-19 on the Russian Agricultural Sector

From the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, proactive measures were needed to maintain open intraregional and international trade, expand the scope of social protection programs, preserve agricultural food chains and support agricultural production. Russian agriculture was not officially recognized as affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but many sub-sectors felt the negative consequences. In particular, the meat and dairy sub-sectors, as well as producers of organic products, suffered to a greater extent than crop production. The pandemic has impacted those involved in the processing, shipping and distribution, and those involved in the food service sectors. Small and medium-sized agricultural enterprises suffered the most, especially producers of perishable products, seedlings and flowers. However, the pandemic also had positive consequences, in particular, attention increased to such parameters of food security as import independence, and the processes of automation and digitalization accelerated. The main negative and positive consequences of COVID-19 on Russian agriculture are discussed.