Dairy dispute sours Belarus-Russia relations
MINSK: A spat between Russia and Belarus seems to have spilt over into the dairy sector, as Moscow has whipped up a conflict that is pushing its neighbour to export its products to China.
Ex-Soviet Belarus’s dairy producers accuse Russian food hygiene officials of deliberately sabotaging them by issuing multiple bans against various dairy plants and abattoirs.
While Moscow insists these measures are all about hygiene, they resemble the commercial embargoes the Kremlin has applied to other countries whenever political relations break down.
Russia and Belarus are close allies and trading partners but ties have become strained as veteran strongman Alexander Lukashenko, increasingly wary of Moscow since its annexation of Crimea from Ukraine, has argued over border controls and energy prices.
The stakes are very high for landlocked Belarus with its closed economy and extreme dependence on Russia: last year 95 per cent of its food exports worth US$3.7 billion went to Russia.
The dairy sector is particularly important because Belarus has a large number of producers and they have a high reputation for quality in Russia, which does not produce enough milk for its own consumers.
Russian agricultural officials accuse Minsk of taking advantage of Russia’s embargo of European food imports imposed in revenge for EU sanctions by sending it products of inferior quality.
But for Minsk there is no doubt that “certain structures have an obvious interest in using their influence to keep out Belarusian producers” from the Russian market, said Belarusian agriculture minister Leonid Zayats in an interview with ONT state television.
The restrictions on Belarusian enterprises have fluctuated constantly for months – being introduced, then softened or toughened up.
They take all forms, from outright bans to increased monitoring. — AFP