MOSCOW, October 10. /TASS/. During Anuga-2019, a major international trade fair for food and beverages in Cologne, Russian companies signed eight agreements and contracts worth 7.4 million euro, the Russian Export Center (REC) said on Wednesday.

"It is important that we can see business successes by Russian enterprises by the time the exhibition ended. For example, Russian participants held over 300 business meetings. Domestic exporters signed eight deals on the sidelines of the event, totaling 7.408 million euro. It is also important that over 75% of exporters expect to sign contracts in the wake of meetings held within the framework of the event," Russian Export Center’s press service quoted Director General Andrei Slepnev as saying.

Anuga-2019 was held in Cologne on October 5-9, gathering over 4,500 participants. According to the REC’s press service, Russian participants of the exhibition held 324 meetings with a potential of 17.3 million euro (excluding the agreements and contracts inked during the event). "If we combine business potential of all the meetings held with the number of contracts, the total value of the business potential will account for approximately 25 mln euro," the REC’s press service noted. 

"One of the directions of REC support is to subsidize the participation of export-oriented Russian enterprises in foreign congresses and exhibitions. The Anuga exhibition in Cologne joined the list of those events for the first time," the REC press service said.

A total of 27 leading manufacturers from 20 Russian regions showcased their products in Cologne, including grain and cereal manufacturer Agro Alliance, yeast maker Angel Yeast Rus, Dmitrov Dairy Plant, Kremlina confectionery, pasta, cereal and flour manufacturer Makfa, packed honey company Honey House, meat producer Miratorg, fruit and berry company RusBioAlliance and others.

Anuga-2019 agreements

Summing up the results of the exhibition, REC said that, for example, Russain company Plodoimport, producing canned food and vegetables under the Dyadya Vanya (Uncle Vanya) trademark, signed an agreement with German-based distributor Souyz GmbH about long-term cooperation in distributing its products through German shops. The company also signed an agreement with Merc Australia Pty Ltd to deliver its products to Australian shops.

RusBioAlliance signed an agreement with Germany-based Lackmann for exclusive distribution of its frozen berries and jams in Germany.

Lackmann also signed an agreement with another Russian company, Kremlina, to deliver its confectionary products - candy bars and chocolate-glazed dried fruits and nuts - to the European market.

Makfa signed a deal to supply flour to Italy’s food distribution company VB GRAINS, while Angel Yeast RUS and Osiyo Group signed a declaration of intentions to supply yeast for the Bakerdream trademark.

Russian exports: optimistic outlook

According to the Russian Export Center, The Netherlands became the biggest EU importer from Russia (over $3.2 billion), followed by Germany (over $2.4 billion) and the United Kingdom ($1.7 billion). The $1-billion benchmark was also crossed by Finland, Poland and Belgium.

"We are witnessing the trend of growing exports of agricultural products," REC Director General Andrei Slepnev said. "Russian products totally correspond to European market requirements."

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Gordeyev, who headed the country’s delegation to Anuga, also said the broad assortment and quality of Russian food products show that they are ready for being exported to European markets.

"From the point of view of assortment, our products are fully in line with habits of European customers. <...> We believe that they [Russian products] are of higher quality as less types of chemicals are used in our agriculture. Therefore, our products are more environmentally clean," he said during the opening of the exhibition.

In general, the second half of 2019 began with substantial positive dynamics for Russian exports: the growth of non-resource-based and non-energy supplies grew by 13.4% in July 2019, compared to July 2018.

"The good performance in July noticeably mitigated the modest results of the first half of the year," REC press service said. A decrease in exports in monetary terms in the first half of the year was seen primarily due to decreasing prices for a number of important product groups for Russia - metals, petrochemicals, timber industry, as well as a lower wheat yield compared to the record of the 2017-2018 agricultural year," said the press service. 

According to the Russian Export Center, positive dynamics was seen in July in most sectors. "Machinery products (the implementation of large defense and railway contracts), the chemical industry (excluding petrochemicals, due to the large supply of fertilizers), the metallurgy and precious metals industries (good volumes of gold, palladium, aluminum and nickel matte exports) made a major contribution to the growth. Products of mechanical engineering, chemical industry (excluding petrochemicals), pharmaceuticals, perfumery and cosmetics, other industries, all sectors of the agro-industrial complex, except for grain, demonstrated a growth of more than 15% in July. Positive indicators were achieved mostly by the growth of the physical volume of production supply," the REC pointed out.

The Russian Export Center forecasts a turning point in the downward trends in the second half of the year:

"In addition to a continuing increase in the physical supply volume of a number of industries, steel prices and a slight increase in prices for non-ferrous metals are expected to continue growing. Military contracts, deliveries of equipment for nuclear power plants, deliveries under railway contracts will continue. Despite a decline in grain exports, new season exports should even out the indicators of the previous one, thus, despite persisting negative aspects in many important segments, in general, the situation with Russia's non-energy exports in the second half of the year is starting to get better."

Russian Export Center JSC (REC) is a state-owned development institution established by the Russian Government to support the development of the non-commodity exports industry/sector. REC offers a wide range of financial and non-financial support tools to benefit the Russian exporters explore the foreign markets and build capacity in the global trade. Russian exhibition company ExpoCentre is REC’s partner in organizing Russian displays at major international exhibitions and trade fairs.