Volga Baikal AGRO NEWS Update on the Prospects of the Russian Food Security !!!

Volga Baikal AGRO NEWS Update on the Prospects of the Russian Food Security !!!

FACTS:

  1. Russia is used to live without imported parmigiano or jamon;
  2. But for seeds and breeding animals, Russia is still extremely dependent on imports;
  3. The Russian Federation is the largest supplier of grain to the world market;
  4. Russia buys very few products in non-CIS countries, since it produces almost everything itself;
  5. A share of imports of food products and raw materials for their production is approximately 12% of all the imports of the Russian Federation.

Problem areas:

Evgenia Serova, Director of the Institute of Agricultural Research of the Higher School of Economics:

Problems can arise in the field of agricultural biotech – seeds, breeding material. For example, sugar beet seeds are almost 100% imported.

But, according to the expert, all these components are supplied to the Russian market by large foreign companies, which

  1. firstly, have a great influence on their governments (for Western manufacturers, Russia represents one of the largest markets for agricultural biotech),
  2. secondly, many foreign companies – seeds and plant protection agents producers have already localized their enterprises on the territory of the Russian Federation.

Russian experts don’t see any big risks around the Russian food exports. Maybe, insurance companies impose additional insurance fees on the export of grain and other crops since the shipping in the Black Sea is becoming riskier. But all these factors do not directly affect the food security. It’s, most likely, a matter of the profitability of the export of Russian goods.

The risks for the export of Russian food can lie in the political pressure on the main partners of the Russian Federation.

The main importers of the Russian food –

  • China,
  • United Arab Emirates,
  • Egypt,
  • and other countries

–  are likely to behave independently and pursue their interests. Possible sanctions on the export of the Russian food will seriously hit the EU countries themselves, which are among the three largest buyers of the Russian products.

In addition, there is already not enough grain on the world market, and the retirement of such a major player as Russia will lead to a new round of the growth in world prices.

Evgenia Serova:

A serious rise in the price of food against the background of the aggravation of the political situation should not be expected, – “Food prices are rising under the influence of other factors, the impact of politics here is minimal.

Source: RG.ru (Rossiyskaya Gazeta)

Volga Baikal AGRO News Update ......

Agriculture News Russia and World Grain News !!!