Russian food-processing companies continued to rely on imported meat products, as meat imports (with the exception of poultry products) rose by 1.5 percent in the ten months of the year. Alongside the increase in meat imports, the figure for the imports of poultry into Russia went down significantly, by 54 percent.

Imports of meat stood at 1.027 million tons, or USD 3.3 billion. Imports for the first ten months of 2009 were 1.0125 million tons, which also converted to USD 3.3 billion.

Poultry imports, by contrast dropped from 730 900 tons to a meager 338 000 tons. In dollars, the values of exports in the first ten months went down from USD 477 million to USD 815.5 million. The sharp decline was prompted by Russia’s prohibition on the importation of American poultry as a consequence of chlorine contamination. The poultry ban remained in effect for months.

The imports of fish into Russia were 650 000 tons, with the value of USD 1.3 billion. In 2009, fish imports were 626 100 tons, and the value of those imports was estimated at USD 1.127 billion. The quantity of dried milk and cream imported into Russia reached 63 200 tons, with imports valued at USD 18.5 million. In the first 10 months of 2009, dried milk imports into Russia were around 44 000 tons, having the value of USD 10.3 million.

In other imports of food products, around 60 400 tons of butter with the value of USD 196.5 million entered Russia. Last year’s imports were 55 000 tons valued at USD 126.8 million. There were 990 200 tons of citrus fruits sent to Russia through October of 2010, with the value of USD 831 million. 2009 imports for the corresponding period were 849 900 tons, or USD 684 million. Sunflower oil imports to the Russian market surged to 60 500 tons from 37 200 tons. In economic terms, the value of imports increased from USD 29.5 million to USD 57.3 million. The imports of sugar since the start of the year up to November 1 were 1.943 million tons, evidencing a significant increase from the 2009 figure of 1.217 million tons. In dollars, sugar imports were USD 480.4 million. The imports of coffee stood at 84 300 tons. 2009 results were only 72 100 tons. Thus, the economic value of coffee imports increased from USD 195.7 million to USD 259.5 million.  

Altogether, according to the statistics provided by the Russian Customs Service, foods and commodities used for food production comprised roughly 15.1 percent of non-C.I.S. imports in the first ten months of the year. For 2009, these imports stood at 17.5 percent.