The taste is not worse, and the prices are lower. How Belarusian enterprises are preparing to replace sanctioned goods

On January 1, in response to sanctions , Belarus imposed a food embargo on a number of Western goods. There are 18 items on the list. We learned what products will disappear from the shelves of our stores and what alternative domestic manufacturers want to offer us.

The restrictions imposed by MINSK affected imports from the EU countries, the usa , CANADA, Norway, Albania, Iceland, North Macedonia, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Montenegro, and Switzerland. In just 10 months of 2021, we imported products from these countries for more than $530 million.

Sanctions included MEAT, MILK and dairy products, fruits and vegetables, nuts, sausages, SALT, and confectionery. "In the event of further destructive actions against our country, Belarus reserves the right to expand the list of prohibited goods," the commentary to the government's decree says.

it is unlikely that many people were saddened by this list of products. Don't we have our own sausages, sweets and salt? There are even better foreign ones. And there will be enough of these products for everyone: according to international estimates, in the Global Food Security Ranking, our republic is in 23rd place among 113 countries, and in the European region - in 17th place. Note that the level of self-sufficiency in the main food groups in our country exceeds 100%: for example, for the famous milk it is about 256%, for meat - 135%, vegetables - 105%.

In addition, the HEAD of state gave clear instructions: the interests of the people are a priority, the adoption of counter-sanctions should in no way affect people's lives. Therefore, the embargo does not apply to goods that Belarusians bring from abroad for personal consumption, as well as to "critical imports" - essential products. For example, baby food.

Representatives of foreign companies are already assessing how Belarus' response to Western sanctions will turn out for them. The Lithuanian Freight Carriers Association Linava ("Linava") has calculated that only their losses due to the food embargo will exceed 100 million euros per year.

Other countries from the Belarusian sanctions list will also miss the profits. We will buy the necessary goods from those who are friendly to us. And we will make some ourselves! According to the DIRECTOR of the Institute for System Research in the Agroindustrial Complex of the National Academy of Sciences, Corresponding Member of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, DOCTOR of Economics, Professor Andrei Pilipuk, sanctions open up new opportunities for domestic enterprises. The experience of the Russian Federation confirms this: the introduction of the food embargo in 2014 served as a serious impetus for the activation of national producers. For example, over the years, our neighboring country has reduced imports of agro-industrial products by more than 27%. Russian agrarians did not miss the chance and quickly occupied all the vacant market niches: the production of meat, milk, vegetables and fruits, grain is growing every year.

- Belarus has not only ensured food security, but also formed an EXPORT potential. Our country is one of the world's leading exporters of meat and dairy products. The annual milk production (about 8 million tons) allows us to fully satisfy domestic consumer demand and sell about 4.8 million tons to 58 countries around the world, - Andrey Pilipuk notes. - A similar picture is in the meat sector, which has formed an export potential of 32% of the total production.

Indeed, in the production of meat and dairy products, our enterprises are leaders in the world. But what about fruits and vegetables? On the one hand, a large field of activity opens up for farmers, and on the other hand, Belarus has unsuitable climatic conditions to grow the same bananas or persimmons.

- As for fruits and vegetables, the share of domestic goods in retail trade is from 60% to 90%, depending on the product range. At the same time, studies conducted at our Institute allow us to assert that Belarus has production reserves to provide itself with vegetables and fruits almost completely. We can only import their individual species, for the cultivation of which natural and climatic conditions are not suitable. These are citrus fruits, grapes, bananas, peaches and others, - Andrey Vladimirovich specifies.

In addition, there are enough regions in the world, except for countries that have fallen under sanctions, that sell similar goods. For example, the states of the Eurasian Economic Union, the CIS, Asian and African countries.

- The European Union acted as just a transit territory for many goods that were previously imported to Belarus. Reorientation to the direct producer can even lead to cheaper imports, - the expert explains.

At the same time, Andriy Pylypuk does not rule out the expediency of increasing the production of agricultural products and food, which, on the one hand, are consistent with local climatic conditions, and on the other, reflect our rich food traditions.

- In the long term, the meat and dairy specialization of Belarus will remain, where the greatest competitive advantages have been formed in the domestic and foreign markets. At the same time, a stable image of our food can be used in any branch of the agro-industrial complex: confectionery, baking, fruit and berry, production and processing of vegetables and others, - he notes. - The most important thing is to keep the orientation of the Belarusian producers on the highest quality goods using modern gentle processing technologies.

First of all, it is important to establish the development of production based on natural domestic raw materials. We are talking about vegetables in closed ground. This will satisfy the demand of Belarusians for them and, accordingly, reduce imports during the off-season.

- There are a lot of directions. It is necessary to correctly use the potential of the agro-industrial complex to create food that is in demand on the market, - Andrey Vladimirovich sums up. - What exactly you can be sure of: there will be no empty shelves. Belarus has always adhered to the policy of ensuring food security based on its own production. Now the country is fully provided with agricultural products and food.

In turn, Belarusian manufacturers agree that the embargo on Western goods provides a unique opportunity to occupy a new niche in the domestic market and think about creating fundamentally different products. For example, employees of Minsk Meat Processing Plant OJSC monitored the main retail chains for sanctioned products that were still on sale.

- We came to the conclusion that we can satisfy consumer demand, including for goods from countries that are on the sanctions list. Some of these products are expensive - 180-190 rubles per kilogram. We are ready to produce them much cheaper, - says Sergey Nekrashevich, Director General of Minsk Meat Processing Plant. - I do not see any particular problems in replacing imported meat products with domestic ones. We have plenty of natural and tasty food.

Today, the specialists of the Minsk Meat Processing Plant have a lot of ideas in development on how to replace the sanctioned products. The company is already producing steaks, including beef, and in less than a week it will introduce another new product - sous-vide meat. The plans are to master new recipes in order to produce analogues of Spanish, Italian and Lithuanian delicacies.

“Belarusian enterprises are able to meet the demand for these exclusive goods,” Sergei Ivanovich specified. - I guarantee that the quality, and at the same time the taste of our new products will be no worse than imported ones. And the price is acceptable for Belarusians.

935 kg of grain

558 kg potatoes

187 kg of vegetables

428 kg SUGAR beets

137 kg of livestock and poultry (slaughter weight)

828 kg milk

373 eggs

Almost all meat and dairy products on the shelves of our stores are of domestic production. These goods will be available to buyers in the future. In addition, according to the estimates of the Institute for System Research of the Agro-Industrial Complex, the product range and range of products will be expanded in the future. So none of us will feel negative changes.

Marina VALAKH,

newspaper.