Belarus nearly doubles egg exports to Russia in early Jan - Rosselkhoznadzor

MOSCOW. Jan 10 (Interfax) - Belarus ramped up exports of chicken table eggs to Russia to 11.7 million in the first nine days of January from 6.3 million in the same period last year, Russian plant and animal health watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor reported.

"Belarus is a stable supplier of table eggs to Russia. According to data from [veterinary information system] FGIS Argus, an average of more than 630 million eggs annually arrived on the Russian market in the past four years," the watchdog said.

Belarus shipped more than 510.8 million eggs to Russia in 2023. Russia also imports eggs from Azerbaijan and Turkey.

Due to the steep increase in egg prices in 2023, Russia lifted the import duty on eggs for six months. This measure is expected to enable the country to import 1.2 billion eggs and stabilize prices.

Egg prices in Russia jumped 15.1% in November 2023, rose 35.5% in the first eleven months of the year and were up 40.3% year-on-year, the Federal Statistics Service reported. The Federal Antimonopoly Service and Prosecutor General's Office are looking into pricing.

Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said earlier that egg prices in Russia will start falling after the New Year.