With its departmental stores running out of groceries, sanctions-hit Russia has reached out to Indian retailers and agro exporters for urgent supplies, more so as the EU has stopped supplies for the second month in a row.
The list includes orange marmalade, mango jam, pasta, oats flakes, pancake mix, spaghetti, basmati rice, coffee, tea, cornflakes, rum, ketchup and prawns. India and Russia are working out an alternative payments mechanism using the rupee and ruble after the West led by the US banned some Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (Swift) system.
Russia has also urged Indian agro and processed food manufacturers and retail associations to set up a joint India-Russia agro industrial park in “Lotos", the special economic zone in the Astrakhan, southern Russia, for producing groceries, spices and other foods to minimize the country’s dependence on food and agro imports.
The Russian embassy in New Delhi shared a list of supply requirements with the Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO). The apex export promotion body is organizing a buyer-seller meet to connect Russian firms with Indian sellers.
As there are no sanctions on food and pharma products, an arrangement for trading in grocery and agri items may not be a problem, said a government official, seeking anonymity.
According to news reports, Russian departmental stores have run out of basics, including sugar, pasta and rice. “Several large Russian companies have reached out to the Russian embassy in New Delhi to look for suppliers in India for a variety of products. We will hold a one-day sensitization programme for importers from Russia and exporters from India. There are a lot of products that Russia is interested in, and a lot of enquiries are flowing in," Ajay Sahai, director general and chief executive, FIEO, said.
A trade association in Russia has also reached out to the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), seeking supplies of food items followed by footwear, artificial jewellery and ready-made garments.
