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5.2.1 Import/export dynamics
Belarus' food exports rose by $410mn, or 9.3% year-on-year to $1.644bn in January-April , according t o the nation's Agriculture and Food Minister Leonid Zayats. "Gross output increased by 3.5% [in January-April]. The production of milk went up by 80,000 tonnes, that of meat by 8,000 tonnes. Thanks to this, we have fully provided the processing plants with raw materials, saturated the food domestic market and sold the surplus abroad," BELTA quoted the minister as saying. According to statements of government officials in Minsk, Belarus was going to increase agro exports to $2.8bn-$3bn of agricultural products in 2017 following $2.6bn in 2016. Russia traditionally is the destination of almost 95% of Belarus' entire agricultural exports, as the neighbouring country as the most profitable market for Belarusian agricultural companies and food producers. At the top of that, Belarusian companies usually fail to obtain EU food certificates for exports of their products due to their low quality.
Belarus' merchandise exports to UK increased by 61.6% year-on-year to $1.4bn in January-April , according to the government's National Centre for Marketing and Price Study. The nation's exports to the UK rose by 28% y/y to $86.1mn in January-April, BELTA news agency reported without
elaborating. At the same time, a bne IntelliNews c orrespondent in Minsk attributes the result to the resolution of Russia-Belarus oil and natural crises in 2017. The dispute led to significant cut oil supplies to Belarus in 2016 and the first quarter of 2017. Belarus, in turn, exports its oil and petroleum products via London-based company BNK (UK) Limited. The firm was set up as a provider of intermediate services to the nation's state oil trader BelOil and other oil sector companies from Belarus, with the task to assist in pre-export finance raising, streamlining transfers with European customers, establishing and maintaining direct contacts with European petroleum products traders, freight forwarding, bunkering and insurance European companies.
A fresh dairy row has broken out between Moscow and Minsk over milk exports to Russia. The new Russia’s ban on imports of Belarusian dairy products is unfounded, Belarusian Agriculture Minister Leonid Zayats told reporters on June 5.
Russia's agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor announced in May that it would introduce a temporary ban on imports of Belarusian dairy products in bottles containing more than 2.5 litres of liquid. The ban, which is to come into effect on June 6, will not apply to dairy products stored in bottles containing less than 2.5 litres of liquid.
According to Zayats, the ban was unexpected, "but we were prepared for it anyway," BelaPAN news agency reported on June 5. "The new ban is another example of the policy of protectionism. Belarusian products are being pushed from the Russian market so that certain elements can fill our niche," he added.
According to the minister, Russia’s food and safety inspectorate Rosselkhoznadzor detected residues of harmful substances in Belarusian cheese and butter, but their conclusions do not contain any proof. He described Rosselkhoznadzor’s actions as discriminative, unprofessional and aimed at pushing Belarusian dairy products from the Russian market.
13 BELARUS Country Report July 2018 www.intellinews.com