(The Moscow Times)
For the first time ever, Russia became a net exporter of agricultural products in 2020.
Russia exported a record amount of food supplies in 2020, becoming a net seller of agricultural products for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The country sold $30.7 billion worth of agricultural goods abroad last year, news site RBC reported Tuesday, citing a report by AgroExport, a division of Russia’s agricultural ministry. In volume terms, Russian producers shipped 79 million tons of grain, meat, fish, vegetables, dairy and other products around the world.
Both figures were a record for the post-Soviet era, with earnings jumping 20% on 2019 figures — boosted by a strong harvest in Russia and rising global food prices. With food imports coming in at $29.7 billion according to separate government data, 2020 was also the first year in which Russia was a net exporter of agricultural goods.
