Russia vows compensation for culled cattle after farmers protests

By Gleb Bryanski

MOSCOW, March 19 (Reuters) – Russian officials promised compensation to farmers in the Novosibirsk region on Thursday, where authorities have ordered thousands of cattle to be culled, sparking Russia’s largest non-political protests since the start of the war in Ukraine.

The Siberian Novosibirsk region declared a state of emergency to tackle a cattle disease outbreak earlier this week. Officials said they had identified outbreaks of pasteurellosis – a severe bacterial pneumonia – and rabies.

Multiple videos posted on social media on Thursday showed police and vets arriving at a farm, which has a herd of about 600 head of cattle, in the village of Kozikha, 70 km (43 miles) southwest of the regional capital, Novosibirsk. The videos were not verified by Reuters.

Regional authorities sealed off access for outsiders to affected villages, while officials and local parliament members engaged in negotiations with groups of angry farmers. A government commission from Moscow arrived in the region on Wednesday.

“For nine months, until the recovery of the farms, people will receive substantial financial support from the budget of the Novosibirsk region. All necessary funds for this are provided,” Governor Andrei Travnikov told the regional parliament.

The governor did not name the diseases in his statements. 

“Today, strict but absolutely necessary veterinary measures are being implemented in the territory of the Novosibirsk region to prevent the spread of the disease and to avoid significant damage to the livestock sector of our region,” Travnikov said.

Kazakhstan, which borders Novosibirsk and other affected regions, has been gradually expanding a ban on meat and livestock imports from Russia since February, its agriculture ministry told Reuters on Thursday.

Rostov and Krasnodar, Russia’s top grain-producing regions, announced measures aimed at preventing the spread of diseases to their territories on Thursday.

The agriculture ministry said that all livestock products in shops across Russia are undergoing strict veterinary checks.

FARMERS ASK FOR VILLAGE TO BE RENAMED AFTER PUTIN

Sergei Dankvert, the head of the government commission, said on Wednesday that the disease had taken an unusual form and started to mutate, prompting tough measures from authorities.  

Videos from Kozikha showed trucks and police vehicles lined up outside the farm in a snowy field. Eleven residents of Kozikha recorded a video address, asking for their village to be renamed after President Vladimir Putin to protect their cattle.

Outbreaks of the diseases were reported in at least 10 regions of Russia, with some farmers and scientists questioning the diagnosis and the sweeping culls.

“In a strict sense, official comments are correct. They are not ‘lies.’ However, likely, they do not cover the whole picture, but part of it,” said Ancha Baranova, a professor at George Mason University’s School of Systems Biology.

“Neither pasteurellosis nor rabies (are) commensurate with the culling of large agricultural animals,” she added, pointing out that in the case of pasteurellosis, it would be reasonable to start with culling chickens and other fowl.

The payouts will further strain the budget of the region, which is already running the eighth-largest deficit measured as a percentage of revenues among Russian regions.

(Additional reporting by Mariya Gordeyeva in Almaty; Editing by Sharon Singleton)