Market News

Reorganization of Russian aquaculture to attract new money

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The Russian aquaculture sector is to receive a cash injection of 260 million roubles up to 2017 to support scientific development. The new money comes as part of a general reorganization of the aquaculture industry in Russia.

The reorganization of the industry will see more powers devolved to the regions and the inland water bodies. The meeting heard that over the last two years the fisheries’ agency has been overseeing the implementation of new laws for a new legal framework for the sector.

The new powers cover the delimitation of aquaculture sites and the organisation of auctions for the rights for hatchery sites as well as monitoring the implementation of these agreements.

The Russian Fishery Agency said that this would allow the regions to facilitate the development of aquaculture.

The new regulations also cover water licences and contracts and land contracts.

The head of the Fishery Agency, Ilya Shestakov, said that many of the regions had not yet establish a regional aquaculture programme for the development of marketable products and he called on them to speed up the process.

However, the regional authorities said that they had encountered problems over the protection of property rights and the expansion of the composition of species in aquaculture farms and well as the use of intensive technology and concerns over the epizootic risks.

There were further concerns over the way the new regulations were being implemented to integrate the water bodies into the programme and the way state support for insurance and the expansion of work in the fields of selection and breeding was being put in place

To ensure the new laws are implemented smoothly, the ministry of agriculture and the fisheries’ agency said that the moves would be supported by subsidised short-term and long-term loans – a move that had been started in 2015.

“Today, companies are showing an active interest in this state instrument. However, there are problems with the borrowing of funds. Banks are reluctant to make loans to the sector,” said Mr Shestakov. He said the lack of interest from the banks was because of concern over a lack of activity in the sector and fears of poor returns.

He said that the Russian Fishery Agency had held a number of meetings with representatives of financial and credit institutions to develop more flexible lending to commercial farms.

Already, this year eight projects worth 4.2 billion roubles have been allocated subsidies of about 200 million roubles.

Mr Shestakov said that it was also necessary to look at other ways of attracting new credit resources into the aquaculture sector. He added that 260 million roubles will be made available to the sector, 30 million or 13 per cent more than in 2015 to support the research institutes.

The fisheries’ agency is backing research across the aquaculture sector and in fish feed production as well as providing scientific support to new aquaculture projects

“The resumption of targeted funding in the field of aquaculture research will create a qualitatively new scientific base to sustained growth in the production of fishery products,” said Mr Shestakov.

“Today, we are working together with the industry and the business community on the realisation trends and the expansion of research in this area.”

www.thefishsite.com

Import of fruit and veg to Russia from Philippines, Syria and China

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The Philippine authorities have let Moscow know that they want to increase the export of a number of products, including tropical fruit. In turn, the Russians want to export more meat to the Asian group of islands.

After suspicions that Turkish products were imported into Russia under the guise of Syrian origins, Russian authorities have decided to conduct inspections in Syria. The inspection has to check whether products really come and are shipped from Syria or not. After Russia closed its borders to Turkish products it opened its borders to Syrian oranges. A first batch was shipped several weeks ago. According to expectations the country can export 150,000 to 200,000 tonnes a year. Experts are counting a market share of 10 per cent for Syrian citrus.

According to Chinese authorities, the demand for Chinese fruit and vegetables is increasing in Russia. Cause could be the better exchange rate of the rouble and the higher disposable income of the Russians. In January export of the Chinese Heilongjiang province stood at 6.9 billion dollar, equivalent to 3,800 tonnes of vegetables. That was an increase of 85 per cent for this province. It is expected that demand for imported fruit will drop in the coming months.

www.freshplaza.com

Russian fruit and veg imports fell last year

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In the first three quarters of last year, Russians imported a total of 4,791 million tonnes of fruits and vegetables, of which 3,816 million tonnes corresponded to fruits and the other 975 thousand tonnes to vegetables.

For comparison, in the corresponding nine months of 2014, fruit and vegetable imports totalled 5,965 million tonnes, while the volume for the entire year 2014 reached 7,934 million tonnes.

Of the 4,791 million tonnes imported between January and the end of September 2015, the largest share corresponded to bananas, with 889 thousand tonnes, followed by apples, with 618.2 thousand tonnes, tomatoes, with 535.1 thousand tonnes, mandarins, with 328.3 thousand tonnes, oranges, with more than 325 thousand tonnes, and onions, with slightly less than 260 thousand tonnes.

The largest exporter to the Russian market in the first nine months of last year was Ecuador, which provided essentially 100% of all bananas imported by Russia, with 876.8 thousand tonnes. In second place we found Belarus, with 817.7 thousand tonnes, Turkey, with 766.8 thousand tonnes, China, with 448.8 thousand tonnes, Egypt, with 321.7 thousand tonnes, and Israel, with about 209.0 thousand tonnes.

www.freshplaza.com

Russia to verify origin of Syrian agricultural exports

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After suspicions of Turkish products entering the country under the guise of Syrian products, Sergei Dankvert, head of the Rosselkhoznadzor, has announced that Russian specialists will travel to Syria to verify their origin, as reported by the Russian media.

“Our people have been instructed to check that the products are being shipped from the port of Syria and with Syrian documents and ensure everything is reliable,” said Dankvert.

Since 1 January, Russia has refused the import of certain types of products from Turkey as a response to the shooting down of a Russian Su-24 warplane, which allegedly violated the country’s airspace.

The Kremlin cancelled all previous agreements with Turkey and agreed to import Syrian products as a replacement. It was recently reported that the first batches of fruit and vegetables from Syria had already arrived to Russia.

www.freshplaza.com

Russia’s worsening economy puts millions into poverty

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The World Bank has cut its growth forecasts for the Russian economy, predicting it will contract 1.9 percent this year due to low oil prices and international sanctions, and it warns of a rise in poverty.

The prediction is significantly worse than the World Bank’s last estimate of a 0.7 percent contraction, made in December, and the International Monetary Fund’s prediction in January of a 1 percent contraction.

The World Bank’s chief economist for Russia, Birgit Hansl, praised the Russian Central Bank for limiting inflation but warned of continuing pressure on government finances.

After the Russian statistical service said last month that 2015 had seen 3.1 million more Russians officially living in poverty, the World Bank said it expected this trend to continue, putting poverty back to 2007 levels.

www.cbsnews.com

Russian farmers do not have enough storage facilities for more that a half of the crop

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Only big and medium-sized farms, producing vegetables, have access to high-quality storage facilities in Russia.  They account for about 45% of the total commercial harvest. At the same time, smaller farmers, who account for more than a half of the total production, have to sell all their crops in the fall, according to Rosagromarket. This leads to the growth in the prices of vegetables in winter and spring, experts say.

According to Elena Turina, Director of the Institute of Agricultural Marketing, about 70% of the crop is not conserved till the summer. However, she notes that the vegetable storage facilities are actively being built in Russia. Now it is one of the most popular investments in agriculture. Whereas previously it was storage facilities for 15-20,000 MT, now facilities for 100,000 MT are built. As some experts say, in two years, there will be enough storage facilities to preserve the half of the crop.

Meanwhile, now prices of vegetables in Russia change dramatically depending on the season.

www.fruit-inform.com

Syrian fruit and veg arrive on Russian retailer shelves

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The first shipments of Syrian fruits and vegetables, bound, in part, to replace the Turkish products covered by the import ban, have started arriving to Russia, as reported by the importer Adyg-Jurak to the newspaper Kommersant.

“Syrian fruits and Vegetables are already being delivered by Adyg-Jurak to the wholesale and retail firm Food City. Talks are also underway with other large Russian retailers,” informs the magazine.

CEO Aslan Panesz said that last week marked the arrival to the port of Novorossiysk of the second batch of oranges, lemons, grapefruit, tomatoes and cabbage, with a total weight of about 3 thousand tonnes.

During the delivery of the first batch, some problems occurred, as about 1.2 thousand tonnes of food stayed in the port for more than 10 days because of issues in the customs documents, with the result that some of the products spoiled. During the unloading of the second batch, these problems have been solved.

Currently, products are on the shelves of Moscow’s wholesale-retail center Food City and several wholesale centre in the south of Russia.

Russian retailers are also beginning to purchase Syrian fruit and vegetables. In April, Metro Cash&Carry is going to sell Syrian pomegranates (2 MT), cauliflower (4MT), pepper (20 MT), eggplants (10 MT) and eggplants. Since this is the first shipment of fruits and vegetables from Syria, the company imported small volumes for analysis of the demand for these products. According to Metro Cash & Carry representative, the retailer sell 300 MT of fruits and vegetables per day on average.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, since the beginning of the year to March 13, food import from Syria to Russia  amounted to $ 2,389, the total amount of deliveries – about 5,000 MT. Food export from Syria to Russia rose by almost 3 times during one year.

www.freshplaza.com, www.retailer.ru

Development of aquaculture sector in Russia

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Development of the aquaculture sector in Russia is far below its potential. Current annual production is estimated at 160,000 MT, or three to four percent of total fish and seafood production in Russia. Russia’s share of world aquaculture production is estimated at only 0.2 percent. Lack of government support, outdated equipment and production technologies, as well as a deficit in feed, are major constraints to further development of the sector.

www.fas.usda.gov

Russian food ban will not lifted until the sanctions against Russia are in effect

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The EU has extended the sanctions against 146 Russians and inhabitants of the segregated East Ukrainian regions, and against 37 organizations, by six months. As a response to the extension, the Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev repeated his earlier words: the boycott will only be lifted when the sanctions by the Europeans are also lifted. “They (Russia’s countermeasures) will come to an end sooner or later,” the prime minister told press agency Tass. “That’s for sure. But of course we will keep the measures in force as long as there’s external pressure. There shouldn’t be any false hope in that respect.” He also warned that Russia will react if the European sanctions are extended. Finally, the prime minister said the Russian government will keep supporting the agricultural sector.

At the same time, smuggling of fruit and vegetables from boycotted countries to Russia is continuing. In response, Russia frequently intercepts products that don’t meet the import requirements. Destruction awaits for products from boycotted countries. Products from other countries that do not meet the requirements are generally sent back. An overview from last week: 105 MT (pears, onions, dried fruit, pepper, grapefruit and wheat flour) from China, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan was sent back because the accompanying documents weren’t in order, according to Rosselkhoznadzor.

A shipment of tomatoes from Turkey was discovered in the Voronezh region. The products were taken off the market. At the checkpoint in the Chelyabinsk region, 345 kilos of Italian kiwis were intercepted. The kiwis were destroyed. 40 tonnes of radish from Kazakhstan were sent back due to violation of the phytosanitary rules. In the Orenburg region, the inspection found 33,224 kilos of Turkish tomatoes with the wrong labels. The tomatoes were destroyed. More than 700 tonnes of Polish apples were intercepted. The apples were destroyed. A shipment of 20 tonnes of apples of which the country of origin was unclear, was destroyed. The inspection found 19.5 tonnes of tomatoes from Spain. The tomatoes were also destroyed.

www.freshplaza.com

Russian import of South African oranges – 30% less

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According to the official statistics from the Russian government, last year 30 percent fewer oranges were imported from South Africa than in 2014. Russian president Putin and his South African colleague Zuma had called for increased trade in August. According to traders, a stricter measure for trade is the main cause for the decrease. Since February 2015, an EAC mark is needed. The mark consists of a sticker with information about the grower and the product in Russian. Since Russian is an unknown language in South Africa, many errors are still made with the marks.

www.freshplaza.com