Business news

MOGILEV, 11 October (BelTA) - Belarus plans to ship about 320,000 tonnes of meat products to Russia in 2019, up by 11% over 2018, Belarus’ Agriculture and Food Minister Leonid Zayats told the media on the sidelines of the panel discussion “Agrarian policy of the Union State: Experience, problems, prospects” at the 5th Forum of Regions of Belarus and Russia in Mogilev, BelTA has learned.

Dairy export will also increase to 3.7 million tonnes (up 2.6%). Such an agreement was reached by the agriculture ministries of Belarus and Russia and will be confirmed by the balance sheets that the parties are set to sign during the forum. At the request of the Russian colleagues, Belarus specified the companies that will ship their products to Russia in 2019 and structured these products into commodity types.

Leonid Zayats emphasized that there should be no restrictions on the promotion of Belarusian products to Russia and vice versa. “There should be no far-fetched claims. We have appropriate legislation, accredited laboratories and specialists of veterinary and phytosanitary surveillance to resolve all issues. The two countries should bear this in mind,” Leonid Zayats said.

The minister spoke in favor of equal access to foodstuffs both in Belarus and Russia. "Since we are integrating the economies of our countries, we should jointly supplement the market with products that are still imported. Both countries spend huge money on such imports. In order to avoid high expenditures we should consider the possibility of supplementing our food markets with products made in the Union State. For this purpose, the parties will sign food balance sheets and 2019 will be a turning point in trade relations between Belarus and Russia," Leonid Zayats noted.