Butter from Argentina, tomatoes from Turkmenistan, cottage cheese from Belarus
Amid a sharp rise in prices for butter and other dairy products, Russia has expanded imports from foreign countries
Russia has increased its imports of butter from Argentina and Uruguay several times amid an unprecedented rise in prices in the country. This was reported today by the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance, citing data from VetIS Federal State Information System.
According to the agency, imports of butter from Argentina have increased by 5.6 times, from Uruguay — by 2 times, and for the first time, butter has begun to be imported from Iran. However, in absolute terms, the volumes of supplies to the country are still small enough to affect the reduction of its cost on the shelf. Since the beginning of the year, 2,000 tonnes of butter have been imported from Argentina and Iran, and one thousand tons from Uruguay, Russia’s agricultural safety watchdog recorded.
However, the department points to a multiple increase in supply volumes compared to the same period last year.
Belarus supplies cottage cheese. “All cottage cheese imported to Russia is of Belarusian origin. Since the beginning of the year, 16.6 thousand tons of cottage cheese have been supplied from Belarus to the Russian Federation," the report says. In addition, Belarus and Kazakhstan have become the main suppliers of ice cream. According to the FGIS “VetIS”, since the beginning of the year, 2.1 thousand tons have been imported from Belarus and 1.4 thousand tons from Kazakhstan.
Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan are the leaders in the supply of tomatoes to the country. Almost 30 thousand tons were imported from Turkmenistan, 28.7 thousand tons from Azerbaijan. In total, the Russian Federation imported 124,900 tonnes of tomatoes. In addition, the supply of onions and garlic increased by 2.1 times.
The rise in food prices in the country has become the main challenge in the work of the Russian government, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said today during his report to the State Duma. “Before the report, we held meetings with factions, and almost all of them had questions that particularly worry people. And among them, of course, is the rise in prices,” he admitted.
The import of products from friendly countries with zero duties on the import of butter, meat, potatoes, carrots, and apples has become one of the measures to prevent a sharp rise in food prices. “Where it was necessary to additionally saturate the market, we temporarily expanded imports,” the prime minister noted.
Mikhail Mishustin explained the rise in prices for local products in Russia by intermediaries' markups.
We will add that in January of this year, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Patrushev warned dairy producers of their readiness to expand imports of products from foreign countries if retail prices in the country rise. “If the situation does not develop in favour of the stability of our own market, we have levers of influence. Including these relate to possible export restrictions,” he said. Then he promised to give the dairy industry enviable subsidies, which no one in the agro-industrial complex has, but in return asked not to raise prices. “It is completely unclear on what basis the prices for butter increased,” he was indignant. In Tatarstan, prices for butter and other dairy products increased by 40%.
