Konstantin Laikam: imports of dairy products exceeded exports 10 times

Since 2016, milk production has been growing annually, Laikam said. ‘By 2020, the increase was 8 percent. In 2020, this volume amounted to 32.2 million tons and over the past 2021, the increase in production was 0.2 percent,’ said the Deputy Head of Rosstat.

The dynamics of import, according to him, is very multidirectional. ‘In 2017-2018, it decreased in terms of raw milk by more than 1 million tons. In 2020, it grew by almost 5 percent, and in 2021 it decreased by 1 percent,’ Laikam said. Now the import of dairy products, according to him, is estimated at about 7 million tons.

As for exports, they have been growing very rapidly in recent years, but their volumes are still very small, pointed out the Head of Rosstat. ‘Exports are about 10 times less than imports in tonnage, the discrepancy in dollars is slightly smaller, but also very large,’ Laikam said.

This is happening against the background of the fact that the number of cows in Russia is declining. ‘For 4 years, it has decreased by 300 thousand mainly due to the households of the population, there is also a reduction in agricultural organizations. The number of cows is growing only among farmers,’ Laikam said.