Lantmännen comments on the government's investment in civil defence

Lantmännen welcomes the increased investments in civil preparedness, not least in terms of starting to build up Swedish food preparedness. At present, there are no food stocks, stocks of agricultural inputs or production capacity in the food industry beyond the smaller ones that are already being fully used, according to the company.

"We do not yet have any details on how the government will distribute announced investments, but as Sweden's largest company in agricultural and food production, we have for a long time expressed the need to increase production and profitability in agricultural and food production as a fundamental measure to ensure a robust food supply," says Per Arfvidsson, Deputy CEO of Lantmännen.

Lantmännen also believes that strategic stocks of important inputs for agriculture, such as fuels, plant protection products and mineral fertilizers, as well as strategic stocks of grain, need to be built up.

"At present, there is a complete lack of production of these necessary inputs in Sweden and there are no strategic stocks of grain. In our neighbouring countries Finland and Norway, there are already large stocks or concrete action programmes to build up stocks," says Per Arfvidsson.

"The necessity of coming to a decision and implementing concrete measures – after many and long investigations – has been emphasized several times and we hope that today's announcement is a signal that decisions will be made in the near future," concludes Per Arfvidsson. 

For more information, please contact:   

Lantmännen Press Office 
Phone: +46 10 556 88 00  
E-mail: press@lantmannen.com