The Crimean authorities expect to start exporting products to African countries in 2023. Deputy Prime Minister of Crimea, Minister of Finance and Trade of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea Irina Kiviko announced this to reporters on the sidelines of the Southern Regional Export Promotion Center (SREPC) conference "Results of 2022 and the vectors of development for 2023. The time of new solutions: positioning products online".
In August, Deputy Prime Minister of Crimea - Permanent Representative of the Republic to the Russian President Georgy Muradov reported that the region is considering sending grain for export, countries in Africa and the Middle East may act as buyers.
"Now we have the main focus on Asian markets. And next year we have plans to start working with Africa. This may come as a surprise, but we are already getting ready for it and in July we will have a big Russia-Africa forum where we hope to present a stand of Crimea so that Crimean producers can promote themselves. <...> Africa is interested in agriculture, they are mostly interested in wheat, flour, bakery products as noodles and so on," Kiviko said.
She noted that in 2022 the Crimea for the first time brought some of its products to foreign markets: grape seed flour, chocolate, fur and jewelry, sausage products. Contracts have been signed with Belarus for wine and flour supplies worth 50 million rubles each, as well as contracts for mink supplies worth 83 million rubles.
According to Director of the Southern Regional Export Promotion Center Kseniya Slutskaya, this year 16 enterprises of the peninsula have taken part in the international specialized exhibitions, among which are "Belagro-2022" and "Prod Expo-2022", which were held in Minsk, and also "Abu Dhabi International Food Exhibition" in the UAE.
"The center held the only Crimean annual international export business forum "Time for Export", the participants were 300 Crimean companies. Also, in 2022, the first flow of the only in Crimea accelerator program "Export Boost", aimed at realizing the export potential of the Crimean business, took place. It was attended by 10 export-oriented enterprises that within 2 months studied algorithms of entering foreign markets within the module period, and after 12 months of personal support, they will enter new markets. The educational block for novice exporters functioned on a permanent basis. We held 11 export seminars of the Export School of the Russian Export Center, which was attended by 115 Crimean entrepreneurs, organized 11 events "An Hour with the Trade Representative", with more than 150 companies participated, as well as 6 specialized master classes with the participation of more than 100 SMEs," said Slutskaya.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke/Pixabay
Based on materials from TASS