Russian agricultural exports will continue to grow and are expected to reach $45 billion within the next five years, according to Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev.

He told reporters at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF): “I think we will achieve all of our goals.”

Boosting sales of agricultural products abroad is currently one of Russia’s top-priority tasks. Patrushev said that this year’s agricultural exports won’t be less than in 2018 when they reached almost $25 billion.

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Earlier, he said that Russia will soon become one of the world’s 10 leading exporters of agricultural products. The country’s producers managed to expand into a number of strategically important markets in 2018. The surge was reportedly due to the growth of grain, fish, and meat exports. China is set to become one of the major importers of Russian poultry and dairy products.

Russia’s largest food producer Cherkizovo Group seeks to increase exports, particularly to China. The company is ready to fill China’s supply gap left by the protracted trade war with the United States, CEO Sergey Mikhailov told South China Morning Post at SPIEF.

He said that initially the company plans to ship around 1,000 to 1,500 tons of poultry products, mostly chicken feet, wings and drumsticks. That will grow to 3,000 tons per month.

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Cherkizovo began shipping poultry products to China last month. “We estimate the potential for Russian poultry exports to China may be around 200,000 tons a year, and Cherkizovo alone is targeting to reach 40,000 tons of poultry products to China next year,” Mikhailov said.

Trade between Russia and China (in agricultural products and food) rose by nearly 30 percent last year to more than $5 billion. Overall trade turnover between the two countries has seen historic growth of around 25 percent to $108 billion, beating all forecasts.

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