How will a shortage of milk in Russia affect Kazakhstan?

In the Russian Federation there is a threat of a shortage of raw milk. Will this affect Kazakhstan's dairy market? For which dairy products Kazakhstan is import dependent? And how can the quality of the country's dairy products be improved? These and other questions were answered to a World of NAN journalist by the Director of the Dairy Union of Kazakhstan, Vladimir Kozhevnikov.

The director of the Russian Union of Dairy Producers "Soyuzmoloko" Artem Belov told to dairyglobal.net that the drought in several regions of Russia and the sharp rise in prices of animal feed have extremely slowed down the growth of milk production. And a further slowdown could once again lead to a shortage of raw milk on the market.

"The shortage trend is already observed in several regions of central Russia and the Volga region, where raw milk prices are rising rapidly," Artem Belov added.

According to Director of the Dairy Union of Kazakhstan, Vladimir Kozhevnikov, our country is also experiencing a shortage of raw milk in the fall and winter. That's why milk prices rise during these periods. The deficit arises due to the fact that 75% of raw milk is supplied by private farms, which do not deliver milk to factories in autumn and winter, but leave it for personal consumption.

"We have a shortage of raw milk every winter and fall. And I can't say that the rise in price of dairy products is due to an increase in feed prices. The deficit is created every year, so we are forced to buy milk powder and use it to support the market," explained Vladimir Kozhevnikov.

In his opinion, the created deficit of milk in the Russian Federation will have no effect on Kazakhstan.

"We have a deficit, but only on products of deep processing - cheese, butter, yogurt. For butter, the deficit is up to 40%, for cheese - 50%. We import these products from abroad, mostly from Belarus. As far as I know there is no deficit there. And in general I keep track of the general trend, and I do not think it will affect our dairy market", - explained the director of the Dairy Union of Kazakhstan.

In his opinion, to reduce dependence on imports and improve the quality of milk it is necessary to develop farms and build large dairy complexes. It is worth noting that today the country is implementing a program for the development of dairy farming. However, one should not expect quick changes in this area.

"There can be no quick changes here anyway. It takes five years to wean a calf and raise it to a marketable cow. Plus building complexes also takes money and time. Today the amount of milk is increasing, but processors are not satisfied with the pace," Vladimir Kozhevnikov said.

Large dairy complexes will also help improve the quality of dairy products. Today, the quality of milk from private farms leaves much to be desired, according to the director of Kazakhstan's Dairy Union. Since the system of collection, storage and delivery of raw materials from private farms to the plant is archaic and rudimentary, and the milk is losing its quality.

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