The Russian PM said that exports of Russian agricultural produce exceeded imports last year.
“The export volumes of the country’s agro-industrial complex totaled 271 billion rubles, topping the imports by some $1 billion,” he said during question-and-answer session with State Duma members.
The state-backed programme to phase out imports began in 2014, after relations between Russia and Western countries declined due to economic sanctions by the US and the EU against Russia. Russia phased out traditional American and European imports from the Russian market.
The Ministry of Agriculture reported that Russia’s food exports hit a record high of $30.7 billion in 2020, compared to $25.6 billion in exports for the previous year.
In 2020, Russia’s agricultural exports went to 150 countries. China became the top market import for Russian food products; imports to China were worth more than $4 billion.