World meat industry news

On April 27, a business mission of Russian companies producing meat products to Armenia began in Yerevan, organized by the Federal Center "Agroexport" with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture of Russia and the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Armenia. The events, which will last 2 days, are attended by 9 organizations from the Russian side - the largest manufacturers of meat products (Agricultural Holding Miratorg, Cherkizovo Group, GAP Resource, GC Rusagro, Agrocomplex named after N.I. Tkachev, GC "Agropromkomplektatsiya") and industry unions, with the Armenian - 25 companies and associations involved in the import, processing, distribution and sale of food products.

The mission was opened with a round table “Prospects for expanding cooperation between Russia and Armenia in the field of trade in meat and meat products”, within which the participants presented the current state of the meat industries of the two countries, forecasts for the development of supply and demand, and discussed the potential for interaction.

The head of Agroexport, Dmitry Krasnov, stressed that Armenia is a strategic partner of Russia. “We have close relationships in various areas, including food trade. Last year, the trade in agricultural products between Russia and Armenia increased by 15% and reached $782 million. The growth in trade between our countries is not least due to the expansion of supplies of meat products. The export of poultry meat from Russia to Armenia in 2021 more than doubled and reached $8.7 million,” Krasnov added. This year, the positive dynamics continues: in January-February, poultry meat was delivered from Russia to Armenia worth $1.8 million, which is 2.5 times more than the same period in 2021.

Russian exporters of meat products have significant potential for further growth in supplies, Krasnov is sure. Shipments of meat products this year may more than double and exceed $20 million. Armenian market. This is facilitated by the single economic space of the EAEU and the absence of any significant barriers to the supply of food products.

In 2021, the import of beef, pork and poultry meat to Armenia amounted to 52.8 thousand tons, of which the share of Russia was 12.1%, Deputy Minister of Economy of Armenia Arman Khojoyan noted. And if for beef and mutton the level of self-sufficiency in the Republic is quite high, for pork - above average, then for poultry meat it is only 25.6%. “Statistics show that there is great potential to increase meat imports, including from the Russian Federation. I hope that the agreements reached during this event will develop into long-term mutually beneficial cooperation, stimulate the development of the industry and increase trade,” Khojoyan emphasized. He also drew attention to the fact that Armenia is interested in attracting investments in the creation of large poultry and livestock farms. All projects and agreements reached during the mission, Khojoyan promised the full support of the Ministry of Economy of Armenia.

During the round table, presentations were made by Director General of the National Union of Poultry Breeders Sergey Lakhtyukhov, Executive Director of the National Association of Turkey Producers Anatoly Velmatov, Chairman of the Board of the Association of Meat, Feed and Livestock Producers of Armenia Ashot Karapetyan, President of the Armenian National Union of Poultry Breeders Sergey Stepanyan. Maria Tokmajyan, Head of the Procurement Department of Atenk LLC, spoke about the needs of Armenian meat processors, and Dmitry Tikhomirov, Head of the Export Marketing Department of ABH Miratorg, shared his experience in the Armenian market.

The round table was moderated by Konstantin Korneev, Executive Director of Rincon Management.

The business mission will last until April 28. The program includes holding a round table dedicated to the peculiarities of the work of HoReCa retail segments in Armenia, visiting meat processing enterprises, as well as a series of b2b meetings of Russian and Armenian companies.