Belarus says it won’t be backdoor food conduit for partner Russia

Moscow dispatched top veterinary officials to Belarus yesterday after the neighbouring country, which has a free trade zone with Russia, said it would not become a backdoor conduit for banned Western food products.

Last week Russia banned imports of fruit, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, scallops, milk, and dairy from the US, the EU, Australia, Canada, and Norway in retaliation for Western sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine.

Since the ban was imposed, Russian media have been flooded with jokes that Moscow will soon see supplies of oysters and shrimps coming from landlocked Belarus, which, together with Kazakhstan, has a free trade deal with Russia as part of the customs union between the three states.

Belarus and Kazakhstan have said they will continue to import the Western foods that Moscow has banned.

Minsk has said, however, it will prevent banned foods from being shipped onward to Russia.

“If Russia has closed its market for certain products, we must not allow the transit of these products via Belarus to Russia,” Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said.

“As to our domestic market, we had a separate discussion of this question. It’s our internal deal. If we need Polish apples, we buy them, but not for Russia.”

Sergei Dankvert, the head of Russia’s veterinary regulator, and other officials from the agency travelled to Minsk for talks. A delegation from Belarus is expected in Moscow today.

Belarus is Russia’s closest ally, relying on Moscow for cheap energy and serving as a buffer zone between Russia and Nato nations.

Importers say that small scale re-exports could still reach Russia but that large operations were unlikely.

“On the one hand, Belarussian companies may be interested in benefiting from this. On the other hand, there is a risk of seriously damaging relations with Russia,” said Viktor Markelov, the head of the Belarussian Confederation of Entrepreneurship.

Belarus hopes to significantly increase export volumes to Russia of the food it produces such as pasta, vegetables, grocery products, and confectionery, Belarussian agriculture minister Leonid Zayats said last week.

Belarus supplied food products worth $1bn (€750m) to Russia in January-March, mainly milk, dairy products, and meat.

In Kazakhstan, the administration of President Nursultan Nazarbayev has said Moscow’s food bans are “a unilateral act”.

Russia last year imported $17.2bn (€13bn) worth of food from the countries covered by the sanctions, of which $9.2bn (€6.9bn) was in the affected categories.

Meanwhile, Russian companies have increased their orders from Turkish firms.

Turkish Exporters Assembly chairman Mehmet Buyukeksi said he expected a significant increase in poultry and seafood exports, and that Turkey could also meet increased demand for fruit and vegetables.

— Reuters