28.02.2008
Russia must seek additional opportunities for domestic agriculture as it is moving towards membership of the World Trade Organization, presidential candidate Dmitry Medvedev said. " Russia must be food self-sufficient and create a reserve for exporting agricultural produce," Medvedev told voters on Wednesday.
"Most Russian citizens prefer to buy Russian-made produce because it is of better quality, not because of false patriotism," he said. "Domestically produced commodities must find an easy way to stores instead of being supplanted by imports," he added. "Food security is extremely important, especially when the situation on the world food market is tense," Medvedev said.
As decision-making is continuing on accession to the WTO, we must think how our market can be protected. We must seek membership -not for the sake of membership, but for gaining additional opportunities, including for agriculture. We shall be guided by this in the talks," he said.