The Russian agricultural reform during Vladimir Putin’s regime and the implications for Thailand

Abstract

The paper used qualitative research, with the objectives to 1) study the evolution of the agricultural policy from the time of the Russian Empire to the Soviet Union, 2) study the agricultural reform of the Russian Federation, and 3) analyze the results of the Russian agricultural reform and the implications for Thailand. The study found that the agricultural reform of Vladimir Putin from 2000 to 2008 adjusted agricultural structure to correlate more with the market, reducing agricultural import. The reform has shown many positive developments including increased production in wheat, barley and sunflower, making Russia one of the world's major exporters of the products; support of foreign investments, budget increase, land reform, and the attempt to join the WTO. Even though the policies have been successful, Russia still depends on the import of agricultural products to satisfy domestic consumption. Russia has been Thailand's no. 1 trading partner among the CIS since 2000, despite a low level of trade. Mainly Russia imports light industrial products, such as sugar, rubber, food, canned and processed fruit. Even though Russia has reformed agriculture and been able to reduced the agricultural import level, Thai's agricultural products are of different types, creating opportunities for Thailand to find more channels in exporting to the country. Furthermore, despite the continual increase of export value to Russia, there are problems, such as logistics, lack of personnel with knowledge about Russia, and the tax and non tax system.