Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Gordeev held a meeting on the regulation and development of the beekeeping industry. The event was attended by First Deputy Minister of Agriculture Dzhambulat Khatuov, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Alexander Morozov, head of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Sergey Dankvert, representatives of the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Economic Development, as well as scientific organizations and industry unions.

Alexey Gordeev noted the importance of improving the effectiveness of legislative measures aimed at protecting the interests of beekeepers and other agricultural producers, as well as consumers of products. 

“In some regions this year there have been cases of mass death of bees - according to the end of July, about 40 thousand bee colonies, which is slightly less than 1.5 percent of their total number in Russia. At the same time, bees play a special role in the development of the biosphere of our country, the conservation of nature and the effectiveness of agriculture. It is necessary to determine how effective the current industry legislation is, to evaluate the practice of its enforcement, to take urgent measures to correct the current situation in the regions, and in general, measures for the future - to change the regulatory policy to develop the beekeeping industry and prevent similar situations in the future, ”said Alexey Gordeev, opening the meeting. 

As Jambulat Khatuov said in his report, over the past 10 years, honey production in Russia has increased by 11.8 thousand tons, or more than 22% compared to 2009. At the same time, most of the Russian honey is produced in personal subsidiary plots - they account for almost 94% of bee colonies. The branches are provided with state support in the following areas: grant support for beginning farmers and family livestock farms, development of the material and technical base of agricultural cooperatives, as well as in the framework of a single subsidy. 

According to the working group of the Ministry of Agriculture, the main reason for the death of bees in 2019 was the non-compliance by farmers with the rules and norms for the use of pesticides, as well as the late notification of beekeepers about upcoming field cultivation. Losses were recorded in 25 regions, of which 20 are considering the possibility of compensation for damage to beekeepers in accordance with the recommendation of the Russian Ministry of Agriculture, said Dzhambulat Khatuov. In particular, in the Lipetsk and Kursk regions already made decisions on damages. In the Republic of Bashkortostan, within the framework of the regional program "Development of beekeeping in the Republic of Bashkortostan", subsidies are provided for costs up to 50% for the acquisition of bee bags and beekeeping equipment. In the Altai Territory, the Republic of Tatarstan and the Ulyanovsk Region, measures of state support for the restoration of bee colonies are under development.

To ensure effective interaction between agricultural producers and beekeepers and to ensure timely information on field cultivation, Dzhambulat Khatuov proposed creating a database on the registration of apiaries in the subjects, as well as conducting their certification at the state expense. This proposal was approved by the meeting. 

Following the discussion, Alexey Gordeev instructed the Ministry of Agriculture, together with other interested executive bodies, to study the law enforcement practice of the current legislation in the field of beekeeping, submit a report to the government with proposals on determining a methodology for creating a unified register of beekeepers based on registration of apiary passports, rules for informing beekeepers and other interested parties on the use of pesticides and agrochemicals in the fields, including on the sites of local authorities government, as well as proposals to increase fines for non-compliance with regulations for the use of pesticides. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture was instructed to strengthen cooperation with industry unions and associations to develop measures to protect beekeeping farms, as well as recommendations to the regions on compensation measures.