Russian dairy exports top $245 million in January–May 2026, up 19%

Russia shipped more than $245 million worth of dairy products abroad in January–May 2026, with export revenue rising 19% against the same period a year earlier, according to Finance Mail. Volumes exceeded 104,000 tonnes, an increase of 14%.

The gap between the 19% revenue growth and the 14% volume growth points to a mix weighted toward processed, higher-value items rather than bulk liquid milk. Russian dairy products are now supplied to more than 65 countries.

Cheese and fermented products lead the mix

Finance Mail reports the following breakdown of dairy export revenue for the five-month period:

• cheese and curd — 28%
• fermented dairy products — 23%
• ice cream — 15%
• milk and cream — 10%
• milk powder — 8%
• dry whey — 8%

Ice cream outperforms the category

Sales of Russian ice cream abroad rose 21% in the first five months of the year to $38 million. For full-year 2025, exports of the product increased 31% to $76 million, making it one of the faster-growing lines within the dairy complex.

“Quality Russian ice cream is fully competitive both in CIS markets and in countries farther afield. Beyond the familiar destinations, there is good potential in Asia and the Middle East,” said Andrey Lileev, chief executive of TD Renna and Renna-Distribution. He named China, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as promising destinations for ice cream, adding that entering new markets requires compliance with local requirements, reliable partners and functioning cold-chain logistics. Transport costs, Lileev said, must not strip the product of its price advantage.

CIS core, growth beyond it

Kazakhstan, Belarus and Uzbekistan remain the largest buyers of Russian dairy products. At the same time, producers are expanding shipments to markets outside the former Soviet Union. In January–May, exports grew as follows:

• United Arab Emirates — 1.9 times
• Egypt — twofold
• Algeria — 2.3 times

For importers and distributors in the Middle East and North Africa, those multiples come off a low base, but they indicate that Russian processors are building commercial channels beyond their traditional neighbouring markets. Cheese, fermented products and frozen desserts are the categories where that expansion is concentrated, each requiring temperature-controlled handling throughout the chain.

Dairy within Russia's wider food trade

Dairy remains a modest line within Russia's overall food export earnings. For all of 2025, the country exported food products worth $41.6 billion, with Russian food supplied to more than 160 countries. Alongside grain, fish, seafood and vegetable oils, foreign buyers also take chocolate, snacks, desserts and other finished products.

That structure matters for the dairy figures: unlike grain and oilseed shipments, dairy exports consist largely of processed, packaged and often branded goods, which carry higher value per tonne but also higher logistics and compliance requirements. Market access for such products depends on veterinary certification, shelf-life management and cold storage at destination — conditions that differ sharply between CIS trade and sales into Asia or the Gulf.