Financial stability of the largest enterprises of the meat processing industry in Russia

The new conditions for the Russian economy predetermined the need to build up domestic agricultural and industrial potentials in order to increase the country’s food supply and create a sufficient level of national security. Special attention should be paid to the development of the meat industry, which is fundamental in providing products of animal origin. The deterioration of the economic situation in 2020 against the backdrop of the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic led to a significant decrease in real incomes of the population, which is the main consumer of meat products, in connection with which there was an expected decrease in demand. The study assesses the financial stability of meat processing enterprises in the context of the economic crisis against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic using the example of the TOP 10 leaders in the country in terms of revenue in 2020, and identifies the prevailing trends and their causes. It has been established that among the TOP-10 leaders of the country in terms of revenue in the field of processing and production of meat products, a stable financial position, as well as high business activity and performance in 2020, remained only in two enterprises (Itera JSC and Invest Alliance JSC ”), ranked 8th and 9th in terms of revenue. Against the backdrop of the pandemic, most of the largest enterprises in the meat processing industry in Russia failed to maintain a stable position, as well as high performance, despite maintaining high revenues. So, in 2 out of 10 enterprises in 2020, there was a loss from the main activity, and in 3 more - a net loss at the end of the year.