All-Russian breadbasket and health resort in times of crisis

Stavropol Territory is considered to be a  a food donor to Russia. The Stavropol regional food fair was opened in Moscow recently. "We have presented at the fair products which we grow and produce on the land of Stavropol, which we are proud of. Stavropol is Russia’s breadbasket," Governor Vladimir Vladimirov said at the opening of the fair. "Today, in conditions of sanctions, we obtain additional benefits to strengthen our status as a supplier. Due to the market niches that were released after the departure of imports, Stavropol Territory could increase its output of food products. In the first quarter of this year, it grew in the region nearly a third, food was produced amounting to 18.4 billion rubles. Our enterprises are ready to send a significant part of this volume to other regions."

"We are entering the market of Moscow without intermediaries for the first time in our history. I myself was at a fair, I asked people about their attitudes to prices. Well, the best price ratio is the amount of produce which was sold. And it is growing exponentially every day. Therefore, import substitution for us is not an empty phrase. Today we know how we will develop the gardens, we know exactly how we are going to develop a greenhouse with covered ground, we know exactly how we are going to develop milk and meat production. With the harvest, the fact that we have always been a breadbasket, and shall never retreat, with the harvest, thank God, now everything seems to be in a good way. But as we say, "do not count your crop unless it is in your barn." That is why we have always been very modest speaking about it. 

The governor linked growth in tourist traffic to the policy of import substitution. Caucasian Mineral Waters is the largest regional resort  in the Russian Federation, with the richness, variety, quantity and value of mineral waters and mud. "We are seeing a growing interest of tourists in the resorts of the Caucasian Mineral Waters," Vladimir Vladimirov said. "If in 2013 there were about 900 thousand travellers, last year there were about a million. Taking into account the rise in price of foreign vacations, we expect this year's growth in tourism flow to be about 20%. The benchmarks for the regional government are indicators of a period of 30-40 years ago, when  the CMW was visited by 3 million people a year. Since the Christmas holidays in 2015 there are no free places at the resort. This is a very positive trend."