In a continuation of the past years’ efforts to maintain and develop relationships with Russian poultry end users, USSEC accepted the Russian Poultry Institute (VNITIP) invitation to attend a major poultry seminar.
Dr. Iani Chihaia, USSEC consultant - South East Europe & Greece, accompanied by local consultant Dr. Maria Domoroshchenkova, attended the Poultry Seminar hosted at VNITIP headquarters, in Sergiev Posad, Moscow Region, Russia, in mid November.
The seminar was focused on the feeding of modern poultry genotypes, modern technologies in feed manufacturing, safety and quality control in feed, premixes and feed additives. With such an interesting agenda, USSEC had the opportunity to position, emphasize, and increase awareness on U.S. soy nutritional attributes and value in the European poultry industry context, where the ongoing, fast changes in production, feeding, and nutrition practices are driven by marketing, certification systems, and animal welfare standards.
Russia is the world’s fourth largest producer of poultry meat and the sixth largest producer of eggs. Local poultry farms are the principal users of soy compared to other animal producers. USSEC marketing efforts are beneficial for the promotion of soybean meal and other soy additives in poultry feeding programs at nutritionally recommended levels, which is expected to eventually contribute to the growth of demand for U.S. Soy.
Dr. Chihaia’s presentation “Broiler Nutrition and Feeding Consideration in the Era of Marketing Driven Poultry Production” introduced a practical approach on how to maintain poultry performances and profitability under two current European practices: antibiotic free and slow growing broiler production.

“In recent years, several research groups demonstrated through feeding trials that ingredients’ protein quality and intestinal health go hand-in-hand. The well-known research and commercially proved advantages of U.S. Soy have to be considered by the poultry nutritionists and incorporated into the broiler feed. Particularly, U.S. Soy’s better amino acids digestibility allows reduction in crude protein, in digestible amino acids, and eventually is lowering the feed cost,” stated Dr. Chihaia. This approach will help to reduce the risk of intestinal tract disorders because there is no fermentation in to the hindgut, he emphasized.
Current European standards, certification systems, and marketing trends impacting the broiler meat industry were also introduced to the audience. “The early adopters of the new standards proved to win simply because the new production west EU systems in broiler production are generating diversification and even if the production costs are increasing, there is a positive effect on encouraging the domestic broiler production in each country, where system implemented. Refocusing on the domestic market should be taken into account by the Russian poultry producers because only 10 – 15 percent from the broiler meat produced around the world is exported,” added Dr. Chihaia.
“I truly enjoyed the time and visiting with the VNITIP on behalf of USSEC. It has been an excellent opportunity to really connect with researchers and professionals from the Russian poultry industry. People were very friendly and the attendance was the perfect size for networking. Thank you for holding this seminar and making me feel so welcome. I’m looking forward to the near future events,” said Dr. Chihaia in his final remarks.
In return, the managers and leading specialists of the Russian Poultry Institute thanked USSEC’s contribution offered to the event. Dr. Manukyan said that the institute highly values the long-term relationships and support of USSEC and that the seminar attendees were exceptionally interested in information delivered by Dr. Chihaia.

Academician Vladimir Fisinin, the Scientific Leader of the Poultry Center, is the President of the Russian and Eurasian Poultry Unions, the President of the Russian National Committee of the World Poultry Science Association, and one of the most respected and known Russian specialists in the poultry area, delivered a lecture on the second day of the seminar. He extracted excellent insights from research and worldwide trends to deliver a deep understanding of the world poultry industry to be able to aid poultry research and commercial industry professionals in identifying strategic gaps and opportunities in poultry production.