Globalization of the Russian Agri-Food Sector and Market Strategies of Foreign Companies

Abstract

The paper focuses on the degree of involvement of Russia as a whole and its agri-food sector, in particular in the formation of a trans boundedness network, which carries the danger of increasing the heterogeneity of the economic space and the deformation of conventional national state functions. The study analyzes the phenomenon of the expanding Russian presence in the global grain markets and the risk of increasing export orientation due to the successful implementation of the revised Federal Project “The Export of Agricultural Products” in Russia. The mechanism of foreign capital entry into the Russian market of dairy products in direct investment is considered separately. The paper assesses the market strategies of various foreign multinational companies [FMCs]. The work notes that FMCs successfully implement glocalization practices. The study reveals the combination of import, the substitution of goods, export orientation, and maximum localization of foreign capital on Russian territory as a feature of modern Russian state policy (including in the AIC). The paper concludes that the high Russian share in the global grain market and the dominance of products of multinational companies of foreign origin in the domestic market of milk and dairy products, juices, and baby food suggest a high degree of involvement of the Russian agri-food sector in the processes of globalization. Given the hierarchy of the global space, the agenda is currently focused on the qualitative changes of Russian presence in global agricultural markets, rather than on quantitative growth.