Opinions & Interviews

MOSCOW, 13 August (BelTA) - Belarus is ready to increase food supplies to Russia by 15-20% depending on the type of product by the end of the year, Vice Prime Minister of Belarus Mikhail Rusy said as he met with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich in Moscow on 13 August, BelTA has learned.

According to Mikhail Rusy, the supply of dairy products may be increased by 40-50%, including cheese by 40,000 tonnes, semi-cooked meat products by 15-40%, vegetables by 40%, potatoes two times.

"We have assessed all possible sources to redistribute supplies, and agreed that we will adjust our supply budgets across a number of products, including those where our Russian partners have issues," said Mikhail Rusy.

He said that appropriate instructions were given to the agriculture ministers of Belarus and Russia. The two countries' agricultural authorities will monitor the situation every week and, if necessary, adjust the supplies of Belarusian foodstuffs to Russia.

Additional deliveries of Belarusian goods will be sent, first of all, to Moscow, St. Petersburg, and Kaliningrad Oblast. "If the Russian government specifies a certain region, we will help satisfy the demand there," said Mikhail Rusy.

This year Belarus expects good harvest of potatoes, and is ready to deliver more than 1 million tonnes of potatoes to Russia. "Belarus has modern potato storage facilities for 600,000 tonnes. We can schedule monthly and supply Russian retail networks with necessary volumes of potatoes in any form they need - washed, packed and so on,” said the Belarusian Vice Premier.

He added that the Belarusian food export will amount to $6.3-6.5 billion in 2014.