Growth is appropriate: Belarus took a share of almost 100% of dairy imports
Belarus accounts for almost 100% of imported milk in Russia. And imports of all meat products from this republic accounted for more than 50%. Eggs are not lagging behind, accounting for 87%. These are the data of Rosselkhoznadzor by the end of 2024. Experts explain this by the high quality of goods, low price and convenient logistics.
Trade relations between Russia and Belarus
According to the results of 2024, Belarus has retained its leadership in the supply of milk, meat and eggs to Russia. This was reported to "Izvestia" in Rosselkhoznadzor.
- Belarus supplies Russia with more than 50% of all imported meat products. Thus, in 2024, the republic's share in beef shipments amounted to 46%, poultry meat and by-products - 51%, finished meat products - 97%. In addition, in shipments of dairy products this indicator amounted to 94%, fish products - 17%, - told "Izvestia" in the department.
They also noted that last year poultry meat shipments from China increased five times. Latin American countries (Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Colombia, Uruguay), which, however, are inferior in this matter to Belarus, were also singled out among the suppliers.
This is confirmed by the data on the annual growth of trade turnover between Russia and the neighboring republic. If in 2022 it exceeded $43 billion, then by the end of 2023 - $53 billion. And this year, as the State Secretary of the Union State Dmitry Mezentsev told Izvestia, this figure may reach $60 billion.
Moreover, not only trade turnover in general is growing, but also the shares of the countries in the structure of each other'strade. Thus, the share of Russia in the import of Belarus in 2024 amounted to about 57%, which is the maximum value in recent years. In turn, the Belarusian component in Russian imports rose to 10%, which is twice as high as in the last decade.
- Trade turnover between Russia and Belarus shows positive dynamics, the products from the neighboring republic are popular in our market," said "Izvestia" in the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
The quality of products from Belarus and their popularity in the Russian market was also noted by President Vladimir Putin. In May last year, during talks with the head of the republic Alexander Lukashenko, he said that agriculture is the most important area of cooperation between the two countries, and the republic in this area "demonstrates very good results, primarily in terms of the quality of goods.
The Ministry of Agriculture informed Izvestia that Belarus is one of the largest partners of the Russian Federation in the sphere of agro-industrial complex.
- Today the countries have built up close cooperation, within the framework of which mutual trade is actively developing, including on the basis of supply and demand balances for certain types of food (milk, meat, sugar, etc.). The dialog is carried out both bilaterally and through the Union State, within the Eurasian Economic Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States," said the press service of the Ministry.
Why is the demand for products from Belarus growing?
Demand for dairy products in Russia is growing for the second year in a row at a higher rate than in previous years, told "Izvestia" in the press service of Soyuzmolok. They believe that this is due to the accelerated growth of household incomes with relatively moderate dynamics of retail prices over the last two years.
- The main volume of demand - about 85-86% - is provided by domestic production (production of commercial milk in Russia is also increasing annually), and the remaining volume is supplied to us by our foreign partners, mainly from the Union State, - specified in the association.
At the same time, they noted that the peculiarity of 2024 was the excess of the growth rate of demand (+3%) over the growth rate of raw milk production (+2%), so the difference is additionally ensured by supplies from friendly countries.
- Belarusian products have a good reputation and enjoy a steady demand among Russian consumers due to the high quality of food products and competitive prices," Igor Karavaev, Chairman of the Presidium of the Association of Retail Trade Companies (ACORT), explained to Izvestia.
According to him, the largest share of goods from Belarus is represented in the category of washed potatoes - 15% of the assortment in large retail chains, which are members of the association. Also, as noted in ACORT, Belarusian products occupy a significant share of 6-7% of the total assortment in the dairy group. The share of cheese varies from 6% to 10% and is represented mainly by semi-hard, cottage cheese and brine cheeses, the share of butter reaches 7%, milk - 4%. In the category of chicken meat, Belarusian producers account for about 5% on average.
Belarusian sausage and confectionery products are supplied to federal retail chains in small volumes; their share on the shelf does not exceed 1-1.5% of the total assortment.
- Among the dynamically growing segments is baby food, where the share of STM (own trademarks) of Russian retailers produced at Belarusian factories is growing. In particular, Detsky Mir and Auchan produce children's vegetable and meat purees under their own brands in Belarus. In the non-food segment, the products of Belarusian enterprises hold leading positions in the category of refrigerators (brand "Atlant"), as well as a significant share in the range of TV sets (brands "Vityaz", Horizont, etc.)," said Igor Karavaev.
There is a growing demand for dairy products in Russia, and Belarus has been its main importer in Russia for many years, the republic is developing this production not only for its own purposes, but also for import to our country, said Natalia Shagaida, Director of the Center for Agro-Food Policy of the Institute of Applied Economic Research (IPER) of the Presidential Academy. This follows from the documents on the development of the country's dairy industry, she added.
The quality of goods, low price, convenient logistics and friendship with Russia are the reasons for the growth of trade turnover and strengthening of economic ties with Belarus, Director of the Center for Conjunctural Research of the Institute of Applied Economic Research of the National Research University Higher School of Economics Georgy Ostapkovich explained to "Izvestia". According to him, the republic has a well-developed agriculture, whose goods have very high quality standards. At the same time, this is a mutually beneficial cooperation for the republic itself, as Russia supplies it with technology and engineering products, the expert summarized.
