MINSK, 5 February (BelTA) – Belarus is set to supply 3.6 million tonnes of dairy products and 316,000 tonnes of meat to Russia in 2020, Head of the Main Department for Foreign Economic Activities of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry Aleksei Bogdanov said at a press conference on 5 February, BelTA has learned.
“The food demand and supply balance sheets for 2020 have been signed. The export of Belarusian dairy products to the Russian Federation will amount to 3.6 million tonnes. As far as meat is concerned, some 316,000 tonnes is to be shipped. The export of meat and dairy products will be nearly as big as last year,” Aleksei Bogdanov said.
In 2019 Belarus shipped $4.3 billion worth of food products to Russia, up 3% year-on-year. “We reduced the share of the Russian market by 1.2 percentage points. However, Russia's share in Belarus' export remains rather big,” he said.
In his words, Belarus' export has grown on the back of dairy products. Export revenues generated by this commodity rose by 23%. Belarus also shipped more eggs, flax fiber, gelatin, seeds and rapeseed oil. Meat export shrank because of import restrictions. In fact, in spring 2019 the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) imposed temporary restrictions on the import of bone-in beef and cattle from countries that do not have an official spongiform encephalopathy status of the World Organization for Animal Health, including Belarus. The restrictions were removed later. “Our beef export to Russia shrank as a result. The export of poultry, sausages and pork dropped insignificantly, too,” Aleksei Bogdanov informed.
“However, there is no overstocking at warehouses of Belarusian companies. The commodities that did not get into the Russian market were re-channeled to other markets,” he said.
