Influence of dairy industry leaders on the development of the Russian milk processing market[Влияние Лидеров Молочной Отрасли На Развитие Рынка Переработки Молока В России]

Importance The analysis of the place and role of leading dairy companies in the formation of the modern Russian market for milk processing is of great theoretical and practical importance. It focuses on identifying ways in which leading dairy companies have taken a broad position in the industry and geographical scope of their operations. Moreover, these methods are clearly linked to the motives for conducting competition in the market and form a dichotomy, «motive-method»: 1) «leadership-the development of internal potential resources (abilities)», 2) «market power-a strategy of horizontal integration». Both «motives-ways» form a unity of opposites, generating, on the one hand, the desire for maximum diversity of dairy products with recognizable brands, on the other hand, aggressive regional expansion, high concentration on the market and the use of various forms of anti-competitive practices. Objectives The purpose of the study is to analyze the opportunities and threats associated with the influence of leading dairy companies – PepsiCo (USA), Danone (France) and JSC Molvest on individual milk processing markets in the context of the advantages of location, using the example of the markets of the Voronezh and Leningrad regions. Methodology The methodology of research of ways to ensure the growth of the scale of activities of leading dairy companies is based on three approaches: the theory of competitive positioning, the resource concept and the transaction approach, which allow describing the process of forming a business group of a leader company in a three-part sequence: growth – development – structure. Results The influence of leading dairy companies on regional markets of milk processing is considered. The conducted research allowed us to identify imbalances in the volume of processing and production of raw milk in markets with a dominant position of dairy enterprises controlled by leading companies, due to their policy of regional expansion. Conclusions and Relevance Leading dairy companies define the «rules of the game» that are mandatory for all participants in the market of milk processing, but some ways of conducting competition are far from clear. In particular, the problem is caused by such a way of organizing purchases as" cross-sourcing", as well as the application of price discrimination to farms-suppliers. All this increases the importance of antitrust policy in regulating certain segments of the dairy industry.