Milk imports into Russia fall 40% in Q1, domestic production marking time
MOSCOW. June 18 (Interfax) - The imports of milk and dairy products into Russia in Q1 of this year fell by 40%, there was no notable growth in domestic production, the press center of the All-Russian Agricultural Census said with reference to the director of the department of agriculture and environment statistics of the Russian Federal State Statistics Service (Rosstat), Alexandra Yepikhina.
She said that the situation with the organization of milk and dairy products is complex.
"The imports of dairy products in the first quarter of 2015 fell by practically 40%. In resources, the share of imports of dairy products amounted to 14% against 22% in Q1 2014," Yepikhina said. "The reduction of import volumes was the main reason for the fall in total resources of dairy products. Domestic production is marking time - we are not seeing notable growth in the production of milk.
Speaking about the situation on the meat market, she said that the share of imports in meat resources and meat products in Q1 of this year fell to 8% from 12% in the same period of last year.
"The volume of imports of meat products in Q1 of this year fell by 33%. Domestic production did not offset the fall in imports. With the growth of production, a reduction in total meat and meat product resources is being noted," Yepikhina said, adding that in 2014 meat resources fell by 1.6% and in Q1 2015 they fell by 3.8%.