Brazil to strengthen trade relations with Russia
EU extends price support for produce hit by Russian import ban
The European Commission, the EU executive, decided to take some produce off the market because of oversupply last August after Moscow imposed an embargo on meat, fish, dairy, fruit and vegetables from the European Union, as well as the United States, in retaliation for Western sanctions.
For fruit and vegetables, the Commission proposes to extend until June 30 2016, measures covering fruits, such as peaches and nectarines, affected by the Russia ban.
These measures include taking the fruit from the market and giving it away to charities or for use in animal feed.
EU rules on market intervention mean it can be agreed at expert level, but at France's request, there is expected to be an emergency meeting of EU agriculture ministers on Sept. 7 to debate the issue further.
Belarus becomes main importer of Polish apples
In the context of the Russian embargo, Belarus became the main export destination for apples from Poland. In addition, the consumption of apples within Poland also significantly increased, according to the report by the bank BGZ BNP Paribas, as broadcast on "Radio Poland.”
An expert also emphasised that during the embargo, apples and cider became fashionable products in Poland, which increased the purchasing price. Furthermore, according to analysts, if we exclude Russia from the analysis, the export of apples to third countries increased by 47% during the year.
According to the project “APK-Inform : Vegetables and Fruits”, in the 2014/15 season Poland has almost doubled the supply of apples to Ukraine, and Poland’s share accounted for around 91% of imports of these fruits to the Ukrainian market. Concerning this project, experts point out that a large portion of Polish apples were further shipped to the Russian market through Crimea, while consumption of imported apples in Ukraine last season, fell to record lows.
Poland’s general food exports jumped 4.5 percent to 21.3 billion Euro ($23.5 billion) last year, data compiled by BGZ BNP Bank SA showed on Tuesday. While sales to Russia dropped 30 percent, the decline was offset by 23 percent growth in exports to France, 19 percent to Belgium and 8 percent to Italy, the report said.
Brazil to strengthen trade relations with Russia
Brazil wants its trade relations with Russia to strengthen and continue past the end of the Moscow-imposed ban on agricultural imports from Western countries that hit it with sanctions, Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply Katia Abreu told Sputnik Brazil.
“For us it [Russia’s embargo] became an opportunity to compensate for the lack of products, subjected to embargo – mainly, meat, milk and fruit. Currently we are trying to strengthen these relations, for them not to become something temporary… Our aim is to build mature business relations with Russia,” Abreu said.
Deterioration of Russia’s relations with the West amid the Ukrainian crisis prompted Moscow to develop stronger ties with countries of Latin America and BRICS.
Earlier in July, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said that Brazil fully supports Russia's claim that the Western economic sanctions are counterproductive.
The current Brazilian presidential administration is working on legislation that would facilitate a switch to national currency payments in mutual trade with Russia, Brazil’s Minister of Agriculture said.
Russia halts foreign currency purchases after ruble slides
Russia's central bank announced Wednesday it had halted its purchases of foreign currency on the back of a recent slump by the ruble. Over the past few months as the ruble stabilised, the bank has been buying up foreign currency to replenish reserves it spent trying to prop up the plunging currency last year. But officials said they have now halted the purchases due to a "growth of volatility on the domestic currency market". Oleg Kouzmin, an economist at Renaissance Capital, welcomed the central bank's move as "a very rational and timely decision." The ruble picked up slightly following Wednesday's decision, reaching 59.84 to the dollar.
Economists had warned that the latest slide could see inflation, which cooled slightly to a still-high 15.3 percent last month, creep up again and throw further interest rate cuts into doubt.
The central bank will decide Friday whether to cut its interest rates for the fifth time this year in a bid to breathe life into Russia's battered economy.
Russia's economy has slumped into recession on the back of lower oil prices and Western sanctions over Ukraine.
Authorities have claimed that the worst of the crisis has already been reached but the new drop in the ruble has highlighted how volatile the situation remains.