During the last year, the import of plant products from Russia to Latvia has almost tripled, bringing hundreds of millions of euros to the Russian economy, the “de facto” program of Latvian Television (LTV) reported on Sunday.
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Although, in general, much less goods are currently imported into Latvia from Russia than before the invasion of Ukraine, there are product categories that still bring huge income to the Russian economy. It is fodder, especially corn, oilseeds from sunflower seeds and other agricultural products, in the global market of which Russia competes with Ukraine.
Last year, Russia, which is one of the world’s largest food exporters, increased its export volumes, especially in the grain category, and it is likely that the spoils of war in the occupied south of Ukraine also played a role. During his visit to Latvia, the Minister of Justice of Ukraine confirmed that Russia had taken the stolen agricultural machinery to its territory. The crop has also been stolen and exported, but to what extent, it is impossible to say.
No Latvian institution has an answer to the question of whether the harvest of the occupied territories of Ukraine could also have come to Latvia from Russia. However, such a possibility cannot be ruled out, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Meanwhile, the State Security Service assured LTV that the increase in grain and pea imports from Russia has also attracted its attention, but the service refused to comment further.
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The data of the Central Statistical Office show that the import of Russian food products to Latvia grew rapidly last year. For example, in the plant state category, from 51 million euros in 2021 to 142 million euros. The import of food industry products has also doubled from 55 million euros in 2021 to 115 million euros in 2022. However, the import of Russian corn continues to grow particularly rapidly – in 2021, 61,000 tons of corn were imported to Latvia from Russia, but in the seven months of this year – already 213,000 tons.
Also, after the invasion, Latvia rapidly started importing various sunflower products from Russia. Oilseeds and other solid residues were imported eight times more last year, with volumes continuing to grow. Just as suddenly, Latvia has become an important importer of Russian dried peas – last year the volume in terms of price increased four times, in terms of weight – two and a half times.
The import of the three mentioned products alone brought 135 million euros to the Russian economy last year, while in the first seven months of this year the amount exceeds 105 million.
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The deputy state secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Kaspars Cirsis, stated in the program that the ministry’s rejection of such practice is absolutely self-evident and clear enough, considering that it is unacceptable to carry out any actions that could directly or indirectly help finance Russia’s criminal war in Ukraine.
He also emphasized that importing food from Russia is not illegal, and a large part of the food imported from Russia does not stay in Latvia and is exported further.
The chairman of the board of the agricultural cooperative “VAKS” Indulis Jansons sharply criticizes imports from Russia. He pointed out that Russia is currently out-competing Latvian farmers, because crops can be grown in Russia with much cheaper mineral fertilizers, and plant protection requirements are lower there.
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Regarding how widely the fodder imported from Russia is used in Latvia, the head of the Association of Livestock Farms, now also the Minister of Climate and Energy, Kaspars Melnis (ZZS), did not agree to the interview, but asked to request a comment from the Cooperation Council of Agricultural Organizations.
Its manager, Guntis Gūtmanis, said that he had never heard of such cases. Gūtmanis expressed that he would personally support a complete refusal to import Russian products, but emphasized that Latvia cannot make such a decision alone.
The Central Statistics Office does not reveal who directly imports Russian agricultural products to Latvia, however, the office can say the type of occupation and the number of companies. Four Latvian companies imported corn from Russia this year, five peas, and six oilseeds.
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The data of the largest fodder wholesalers show that the trends in foreign trade statistics especially coincide with the increase in turnover for one trader – SIA “Avrora Baltic”. Before the war, its turnover was 53 million euros, last year it was less than 180 million. Until the beginning of the war, it was still a subsidiary of the Russian company “Sentjabr” in Latvia. “Sentyabr” is registered in the Lipetsk region, approximately 400 kilometers from the Ukrainian border.
A month after the Russian invasion, the part was completely re-registered to Latvian citizen Stanislav Ivanovs, a member of the board. In the annual reports, the company states that it cooperates with Russian companies, trades wheat, corn, peas. It can also be seen that most of the turnover is made up of sales in Great Britain, Sweden and Spain, but the turnover in the amount of 42 million euros was also in Latvia. The company did not agree to the interview.
Photo: “Freepik”
2023-10-01 18:04:17
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