Miratorg gained access to Saudi market thanks to Putin meeting with king
KRASNODAR. March 12 (Interfax) - Russian President Vladimir Putin personally helped meat company Miratorg gain access to Saudi Arabia's beef market.
Moratorg head Viktor Linnik said at the all-Russian agriculture forum in Krasanodar that Putin discussed the issue at his meeting with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al Saud in Moscow in October last year.
"Together with Rosselkhoznadzor [the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance] we took around three years gaining access to the Saudi Arabian market. On a technical level many negotiations were held, but we finally gained access two months after your meeting with the king of Saudi Arabia, and we have now started to supply our Russian meat to the Saudi market, the best market in the Persian Gulf from the point of view of volumes," Linnik said.
Following applause, the Russian president replied: "This applause was for the king of Saudi Arabia, a thank you to him. I will definitely convey this applause and your gratitude to him," Putin said.
"But we must not forget that our WTO partners - the United States, EU, Brazil - have long been working on markets that interest us. Nobody particularly wants us there and some serious competition lies ahead," Miratorg's Linnik said. Your support in securing our access to those markets is very important," he said, addressing Putin.