COUNTRY FOCUS ▶▶▶
Russian poultry industry takes a hit
The poultry industry in Russia needs to find alternative sources of feed additives, hatching eggs, equipment, package and labels, as deliveries from Western countries are halted or disrupted. The current crisis is the biggest challenge Russian poultry farmers have faced since Soviet times.
BY FABIAN BROCKÖTTER T
People queue- ing to buy meat products at the food market in Moscow, as in- flation rises and producers face increasing costs, too.
he Russian invasion of Ukraine provoked a mass ex- odus of Western companies from the Russian mar- ket. At the time of writing 500 Western brands had publicly announced a decision to pull out of the
country. Unprecedented Western sanctions have hit the logis- tics and financial sectors, as the world’s leading sea transport companies cancelled bookings to and from Russia, with 70% of the Russian banking system subjected to restrictions. The sanctions list is not final, as the US and the European Union keep mulling over new economic blows to Russia. Russia has spent years trying to wean itself off imported foodstuffs to fortify its economy against Western sanctions. In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the goal had been achieved as the country has become fully self-sufficient in basic foodstuffs, including poultry and eggs. Now, the
impact of sanctions imposed since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has made it clear that things are not that simple.
Turbulent imports “Currently, Russian poultry farmers face some problems with the supply of hatching eggs, since Russia is largely dependent on imports in this segment”, stated Lyubov Savkina, commer- cial director of the Russian Feedlot agency. Work is currently underway to overcome import dependence, she said. “Most work needs to be done in the turkey segment, as the short- age of hatching turkey eggs is estimated to be close to 50 million eggs per year,” Savkina said. Russia produces 4.2 billion hatching eggs, importing roughly 300 million units, estimated Vladimir Fisinin, adding that claims that Russian poultry farmers are sitting on imported hatching eggs are wrong. Still, in terms of breeding stock, Russian poultry farmers have turned out to be rather vulnera- ble. Technically, no foreign supplier declared plans to pull out of the Russian market, but logistics need to be re-directed to China, India, UAE and Brazil, Fisinin said, noting that this would take a toll on costs. Imports of most products in the poultry industry have stopped, as the European Union, after imposing its fifth package of sanctions, ordered Russian and Belarusian trucks to leave its territory by 16 April. Under the
28 ▶ POULTRY WORLD | No. 5, 2022
PHOTO’S: ANP
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