World meat industry news

The value of imported food in Russia has reduced by 31.2% in the five years since President Vladimir Putin imposed a ban on western imports as a response to U.S. and EU sanctions, RIA Novosti reported. 

Russian food imports have dropped from $43.3 billion in 2013 to $29.8 billion in 2018, following an extensive import substitution program on all levels, the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.

“Thanks to the implementation of the import substitution policy, Russia has achieved and outstripped the threshold values of the Food Safety Doctrine for a number of key food products,” the ministry stressed.

In particular, in the segment of grain and leguminous crops, the share of domestic products in the total volume of domestic market resources amounted to 99.4% at the end of 2018 (the Doctrine’s threshold value is 95%). For sugar it is 95.7% against the threshold value of 80%, for vegetable oil – 81.5% against 80%, for meat and meat products – 92.8% against 85%.

The ministry also noted that in 2018, Russia’s exports of foodstuffs amounted to $25.8 billion, up from $16.8 billion in 2013.

The amount of state support to the agricultural sector increased – this year it is planned at 307.9 billion rubles ($4.7 billion).

In 2014, the EU and the U.S. imposed sanctions against Russia in connection with the events in Ukraine. Since then the sanctions were repeatedly expanded and extended. In response, Russia banned imports of certain types of agricultural products, raw materials and food from the countries that introduced anti-Russian sanctions.