Belarus can lose about $100 million due to the situation with the supplies of food to Russia, First Deputy Agriculture and Food Minister Leonid Marinich said in an interview to the STV channel, BelTA has learned.

At the end of November the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) suspended the import of products of more than 15 Belarusian enterprises to Russia. “If the situation remains the same and if our companies do not resume work, the Belarusian export will decrease by about $100 million,” Leonid Marinich noted.

In an interview to Belarusian TV channels head of the main foreign economic activities department of the Agriculture and Food Ministry Alexei Bogdanov denied assertions that Belarus has boosted the supplies of food made of raw materials imported from the countries which had fallen under Russian sanctions. He explained the situation using an example of dairy products. “Belarus imported only 2.5-3% of the total milk output in the country. It is a drop in the ocean. We imported raw materials and used it to make cheese. These products were both sold on the domestic market and exported to Russia and Kazakhstan,” the expert said. It is noteworthy that the sides have previously agreed that Belarus can export products made of exported raw materials to Russia.

Alexei Bogdanov stressed that at present the deliveries do not exceed the last year's volume even in spite of the increase which was discussed by the sides. Thus, the quota of dairy products for Belarus made up 3.1 million tonnes in 2014. In January-October the country exported 87% of the targeted volume. Belarus sold 79% of the meat quota and 91% of the fish quota. “We do not compete with Russian manufacturers of finished products because we replace the goods which have disappeared from Russian shops,” the representative of the Agriculture and Food Ministry said.



 

BelTA