Russia slashes food exports to Western countries – minister

Russia has substantially slashed its agricultural exports to ‘unfriendly’ nations that imposed sanctions on Moscow, Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev revealed on Wednesday.

Moscow reduced deliveries of its agricultural produce to Western states by $2.6 billion last year while at the same time boosting supplies to neutral and friendly countries – those that have not joined Western sanctions on Russia – by $2.7 billion, according to the official.

“Agricultural exports, including fish exports, today primarily look towards friendly countries,” he said at a fishing industry forum. The minister added that due to the “geopolitical situation,” Russia was prompted to divert its agrarian trade and will “continue to do so in the future.”

On the topic of fish exports, Patrushev noted that despite Western restrictions, Russia boosted supplies of marine products by 4% last year. The number of importing countries also increased from 60 in 2022 to 80 this year as Moscow seeks to diversify its trading partners and is expanding to new markets.

Russian agricultural exports totaled $41.6 billion last year and are expected to amount to $42 billion this year.

Food exports from Russia are growing rapidly, becoming the country’s third-largest source of budget income after oil and gas, according to data from the country’s customs service published this month.

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