For the first time in its modern history Russia is going to commence exporting meat to the EU: work is underway with the competent authorities of the European Union and more than 25 potential importing countries on the basis of applications of the Russian producers, the head of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance of the Russian Federation (Rosselkhoznadzor), Sergey Dankvert, said.
"Russian producers are displaying the biggest interest in the markets of the countries of Asia and Africa and some countries of Europe and America. And the geography of the potential importer states is constantly expanding,” abc.az cited Dankvert as saying.
The reasons for Russia’s re-orientation from imports to exports are not the achievements of the grocery embargo, but a decrease in domestic demand for meat.
"We are encountering a decrease in demand because of the falling real income of the population. Following the results of the year, we estimate there has been a decrease in consumption of meat and meat products of 4-6%," the Russian National Meat Association’s president Sergey Yushin said.
According to other analysts' estimates, the consumption of pork has already fallen by 8-10% year-on-year, sausages by 7-8% and poultry by 5-7%. Other participants in the market suggest introducing food stamps for the poor strata of the population.
