Serbian food producers negotiating with retailers in Russia

representatives of fifteen Serbian companies, producers and exporters of food products, presented their exporting potential in Moscow and had bilateral negotiations with three of the leading Russian store chains, H5, Azbuka Vkusa and Billa, the Chamber of Commerce of Serbia announced.

As said, the CCIS and the Ministry of Trade, Tourism and Telecommunication, in cooperation with the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, organized over 50 commercial meetings between Serbian exporters and Russian importers on May 31 with the aim of having them establish direct business contacts, enhancing bilateral economic cooperation and increasing Serbian exports.

The acting assistant to the minister of trade, tourism and telecommunications, Maja Mandrapa Gasic, pointed out that the total bilateral relations of the two countries were at their highest level, that there was a mutual interest in the strengthening of the economic cooperation and that the potential was not even close to being exhausted.

– We expect the talks to incite new business initiatives, whose concrete results will contribute to a greater export to the Russian Federation – Mandrapa Gasic concluded.

The director of the agricultural sector at the CCIS, Veljko Jovanovic, emphasized that a direct dialogue needed to be established between the business associations of Serbia and Russia through the exchange of information about the mandatory standards of product quality harmonization and the formation of a common business platform for the purpose of coordination of the operations of Serbian exporters and the systematization of the necessary qualitative requirements for the export of Serbian products to the Russian market, the CCIS says.

In the upcoming period, the business platform will be defined by a framework agreement on cooperation between the CCIS and the Russian Association of Retail Stores (AKORT).

Director for the Department of Europe, North America and International Organizations of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, Mikhail Anisimov, pointed out that Serbian food products were present in the Russian market, that they had been recognized as quality products and that, although Russia is oriented towards substitution, import, development and localization of the domestic production at the moment, there was an interest in the further strengthening of the cooperation with Serbian companies.

The total foreign trade of Serbia with the Russian Federation amounted to nearly USD 2.6 billion in 2017. The total Serbian exports in 2017 amounted to USD 993.1 billion and grew by 25.12% compared to the previous period.

There was a positive trend in the trade in the first three months of 2018 and a stable trend of the growth of exports to the Russian Federation of 25.8%. Serbian exports in 2018 are expected to exceed USD 1.2 billion.

Privredna komora Srbije

Ministarstvo turizma i omladine Republike Srbije

H5

Azbuka Vkusa

Billa

Akort

Chamber of Commerce of Serbia

CCIS

Ministry of Trade Tourism and Telecommunications

Ministry of Economic Development of Russia

Mikhail Anisimov

Maja Mandrapa Gasic

Veljko Jovanovic

meeting of Serbian exporters and Russian importers

increase of Serbian exports

trade between Serbia and Russia

trade agreement of Serbia and Russia

trade cooperation of Serbia and Russia

producers of food products

export to Russia

export of food to Russia

export of food products to Russia