Where will Russia deliver food now?

Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev urged to limit mutual trade in food with unfriendly states, redirecting the flow to countries that have not declared sanctions against Russia, reports World of NAN, referring to the "Rossiyskaya Gazeta".

Turkey and China will be happy to buy food, but it will be difficult to refuse imported seeds and breeding animals, experts warn.

Russia is now the largest producer of grain, along with India and China. Many countries depend on Russian supplies for their food security.

"It turns out that our food is our silent weapon. Quiet - but formidable," Dmitry Medvedev wrote in his Telegram channel. Given the total sanctions imposed by Western countries, he considers it appropriate to supply food and crops only to friends.

There is a demand for Made in Russia products in the Middle East, the CIS, Asia, Africa, and many other countries, the Russian Export Center agrees. And it's not just grain. On the supermarket shelves there are also confectionery products, cereals, sunflower oil and meat. According to the federal center "Agroexport", under the Ministry of Agriculture, last year Russian exports of agricultural products grew by 21% and amounted to $37.1 billion.

According to Rosstat, the share of imported food in its total structure in Russia in 2021 decreased by 4 p.p. compared to 2020 - from 28% to 24%. In 2014, Russia imposed a food embargo, banning a number of countries (primarily the EU and the US) from importing meat, dairy products, fish, fruits and vegetables, nuts, and salt into Russia.

The Ministry of Agriculture has repeatedly stated that Russia is self-sufficient in basic foodstuffs. The need for imported goods is insignificant. But not everything is as simple as it seems at first sight.

In some areas of exports and imports of food and means of production, Russia would find it difficult to reconfigure the mutual trade with friendly countries, says general director of the Institute of Agricultural Market Conjuncture Dmitry Rylko. The main buyers of wheat and sunflower oil are Turkey, Egypt and other friendly countries. 

"We have no problems with the export of vegetable oils," says Mikhail Maltsev, executive director of the Oil and Fat Union. But rapeseed, soybean and linseed oils, mustard and mustard oil, safflower, as well as beet pulp and meal (used as animal feed), are shipped from the European part of Russia, mainly to the EU countries. It's unprofitable to transport these products to the East, says Rylko.

Wheat and sunflower oil are mostly bought by Turkey, Egypt and other friendly countries. We export durum wheat to Italy, for instance, in small quantities.

The cessation of imports from the EU and North America of means of production may be critical for Russia. In particular, there is great dependence on supplies of genetic material, from seeds to high-bred animals. According to Tebiz Group estimates, imported agricultural equipment on the Russian market exceeds 75%.

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