Belarus becomes Russia’s second-largest market for fermented dairy products
Russian dairies sold about $9 million of buttermilk, yogurt and kefir to Belarus during the first seven months of the reported period. Belarus ranked second among buyers, behind Kazakhstan, as Russia’s exports in the category reached about 41,000 tonnes.
Belarus moves into second place
Belarus became the second-largest foreign buyer of Russian buttermilk, yogurt and kefir during the first seven months of the reported period, according to Belmarket, which cited data published by Agroexport. Russian dairy plants sold about $9 million of these fermented products on the Belarusian market.
Kazakhstan remained the leading destination, purchasing $22 million of Russian products in the category. Its import value was more than twice the figure recorded for Belarus, showing that the regional market remains concentrated around one dominant buyer even as Belarus gains importance for Russian suppliers.
Central Asian markets dominate the ranking
Tajikistan ranked third with purchases worth more than $7 million, followed by Uzbekistan at about $7 million and Azerbaijan at approximately $6 million. Together with Kazakhstan and Belarus, these countries formed the five largest reported foreign markets for Russian buttermilk, yogurt and kefir.
The ranking highlights the importance of nearby Eurasian destinations for products that require controlled storage and relatively fast distribution. The source did not provide company-level shipments, individual product shares or changes in purchases by destination, so it is not possible to determine whether Belarus’s position resulted mainly from yogurt, kefir or buttermilk sales.
Russian export revenue rises 10%
Russia exported about 41,000 tonnes of buttermilk, yogurt and kefir to foreign markets over the period, generating approximately $72 million in revenue. The value of exports increased by 10% compared with the same period of the previous year, although the source did not report a corresponding year-on-year change in physical volume.
Based on the reported totals, Belarus accounted for roughly one-eighth of Russia’s export revenue in the category. Kazakhstan represented close to one-third. The five named markets generated about $51 million or more, depending on the final value for Tajikistan, indicating that a large share of sales was concentrated in a small group of destinations.
The figures also imply an average export value of about $1,756 per tonne across all destinations. This is a calculated average rather than a quoted market price and may reflect differences in product mix, packaging, contract terms and transport costs. Without destination-level tonnage, it cannot be used to compare the prices paid by Belarus and Kazakhstan.
For Russian processors, Belarus now represents a sizeable outlet within a growing export category, but Kazakhstan remains the market with the greatest reported sales value. For Belarusian buyers, the data point to substantial sourcing from Russian plants in a segment that includes both retail-ready consumer products and ingredients used by food businesses. Further assessment of competitive effects would require information on Belarusian domestic production, supplier shares and fermented-dairy imports from other origins, none of which was included in the source material.
