MOSCOW, May 2. /TASS/. Russia exported a record volume of meat products in 2023 and this year it is expected to increase exports by another 10%, head of the National Meat Association Sergey Yushin told TASS at the International Exhibition and Forum Russia.

"The first quarter was off to a pretty good start. Our exports are growing at a moderate pace of around 3-8% for various types of meat, and sales markets are expanding. I think our goal is to at least increase the volume of supplies by 10%. Last year, Russia supplied a record volume of livestock products. In total, the volume of exports of livestock products, including live animals and non-food products, exceeded 1 million tons worth $2 billion," Yushin said.

He also noted the expansion of the geography of supplies of Russian meat products. According to him, Russia has the right to supply almost 100 countries.

"We regularly supply to about 60 countries, over the years - up to 70 countries," the expert said.

Although Russian meat products are popular on the world market, so far they occupy a relatively modest place in the world meat trade, he said. Speaking about the import of meat products, he noted that Russia is a country that is more than 100% self-sufficient in meat and is a net exporter of meat and meat products.

According to him, last year imports of poultry meat amounted to just over 200,000 tons, exports of beef reached about 300,000 tons, while imports of pork decreased to almost zero.

"In general, the share of imports in consumption is 4.3%," the expert stressed.

In late March, head of the Russian agricultural watchdog (Rosselkhoznadzor) Sergey Dankvert said that exports of meat of all types from Russia in 2023 amounted to 649,000 tons, imports reached 586,000 tons.