Poland food trade grows despite Russian import ban

Poland's food trade has grown and been on the track to reach last year's level despite the Russian food import ban, Marek Sawicki, Polish Minister of Agriculture, said on Thursday.
In the first three quarters of this year, the amount of Polish food exports reached 15.7 billion euros, while the imports amounted to 10.8 billion euros.
According to Polish Press Agency, Sawicki assessed that comparing to last year Polish exports are growing approximately 5 percent.
If this tendency continues, Poland will be on the track to achieve results comparable to last year (exports of over 20 billion euro).
Sawicki said that the introduction of an embargo by Russia has forced Polish manufacturers to diversify trade.
This process has already taken place, because more than 10 years ago Poland was sending 30 percent of food exports to Russia, while in 2013 the exports to Russia only accounted for approximate 7 percent.
Still, the losses due to the embargo are large, most in the lost market of milk and fruits and vegetables. Russia imposed an embargo on food imports from the EU in early August in retaliation for EU's sanctions.
Poland is constantly making efforts to expand its export markets. One of the most important of them is China, which currently imports mostly Polish dairy products.
In addition to China, Poland is looking to export food to Algerian, Indian, United Arab Emirates and Iran markets. (1 euro = about 1.25 U.S. dollars)