Belarus intends to considerably increase food export to the USA, BelTA learned from Alexei Bogdanov, Head of the Central Office for Foreign Economic Activities of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry. “A Belarusian delegation has held a series of meetings and negotiations in the USA, including for the sake of discussing the possibility. Certainly, the American market offers everything consumers may need but still there is an interest in Belarusian products such as dairy products, flax, confectionery and alcohol,” noted Alexei Bogdanov. Speaking about the European Union, the official noted that tariff protections of the European market are rather high, yet there are prospects for exporting more Belarusian food there. “Prices for our dairy products are virtually doubled once the merchandise is imported into European countries but a breakthrough has been secured for some positions. For instance, Savushkin Product traditionally exports dry milk products to the European market. In essence those are raw materials. But now the company is increasing the shipment of ready-made products. Lithuania and Latvia already love Belarusian yoghurts, quark desserts, kefir and sour cream. This year the company intends to reach German retail chains,” said the Head of the Central Office for Foreign Economic Activities of the Belarusian Agriculture and Food Ministry. While testing markets of other countries, Belarus has no intention of losing the Russian market, which still remains a priority as far as food export is concerned. Alexei Bogdanov attributed it to many reasons, including the price factor, the market's readiness from the point of view of marketing and the recognition of Belarusian brands. “A lot of effort has been poured into making our products available on the Russian market. Now food producers and the Agriculture and Food Ministry should not lose the shop shelves despite the falling purchasing power in Russia,” he noted. In January-April 2015 Belarus exported $935 million worth of agricultural products. The export growth rate of dairy products totaled 106.2% as against the same period of last year. Potato export rose by 4.5 times, vegetables and mushrooms 2.6 times, flax fiber 1.6 times. Speaking about revenues from export, Alexei Bogdanov pointed out that the situation on foreign markets is complicated as far as prices are concerned. For instance, prices for meat products dropped by 20-25% as against last year, with prices for dairy products 30-35% down.
Written by belta.by
