Russia's butter crisis: Theft spikes as imports plummet

For years, Russia was at the forefront of the world's largest food import markets, particularly leading in butter and cheese imports.

Until 2022, butter arrived in Russia from all over the world. However, since the invasion of Ukraine, the situation has changed.

In 2022, Russia ranked 19th worldwide for butter imports. Over the last two years, imports have dropped tenfold - from 44,000 to 4,400 tonnes.

After Putin attacked Ukraine, Belarus became the only butter supplier to the Russian market. However, it is unable to fully meet the demand, even though its goods account for 15 per cent of all Russian dairy products.

Minsk has also noticed the crisis and decided to profit from it. The local Ministry of Agriculture increased prices for some goods sold in foreign trade contracts with Russia twelve times over the year.

Therefore, Russia chose another route; it started buying butter from "friendly countries." According to their media, these include India and Iran. Kyrgyzstan is also a trade partner in the dairy sector, increasing butter exports to Russia by 34 per cent in the last nine months.

For now, butter remains scarce, and prices have recently risen by 20 per cent. This has led to one issue - Russians have started stealing.

Due to the increasing number of thefts, shops have implemented precautionary measures by securing butter blocks in special containers.

The containers are additionally "chipped," so taking such a product out of the shop will trigger an alarm.

"In a photo from a Russian shop, we see butter in special containers with security chips," writes Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to the President of Ukraine.

There is also a note on the refrigerator. "Dear customers, if you wish to buy butter, please contact a shop employee," it reads.

Source: X/AKI Press/OEC World/NZ Herald/WP