Import of Agricultural Products Four Times Exceeds Exports

Baku / 18.04.17 / Turan: Export of agricultural products for three months increased by 44%, the head of state said at the Republican meeting of exporters of non-oil products held in Yevlakh. Meanwhile, according to the Center for Economic Research (CER) estimates, imports exceeded exports of agricultural products to foreign markets by four times. As for export, although it grew by the reporting period last year, it turned out to be significantly lower than in 2014.

“I want to note that during three months of this year, agricultural products were exported for $ 69.4 million. In the sum, the export of the three months of this year, indeed, exceeds the indicators of the reporting period of the previous year by 12.4 million dollars,” said the head of the agricultural department of CER Vahid Maharramov. However, positive dynamics is only a visible part of the situation, which does not favor optimism in the general analysis of data.

“Well, this year the export of agricultural products rose to the reported period last year, but exports decreased by half (!) compared with the same period in 2014. For comparison, during the first three months of 2014, agricultural products were exported in the amount of $ 144.8 million. As you can see, this year there is a twofold decline. At the same time, it should be noted that only in the first three months of 2017 the country imported foodstuffs worth 298 million 557 thousand dollars. Imports in the current year have exceeded exports by 4.3 times. In this scenario, it is unacceptable to talk about 44% of the increase in the export of agricultural products,” Maharramov said.

Against the backdrop of growing volumes of supplies from abroad, the monopoly in the segment of food imports and the wholesale supply of products to the markets are provoking an unrestrained price increase. “The cost of food in Azerbaijan is 30-40% higher than in other countries, and some prices are twice as high. The reason for this is the monopolization of imports and wholesale markets. Optimal prices are possible in a competitive market,” the expert believes.

Recall that within the framework of the Republican meeting of exporters, the non-oil economy was reported to grow by 2.4%. Meanwhile, the non-oil industry of Azerbaijan grew by 2%, and agriculture – by 3.5%. Trade turnover increased by 15% and exports - by almost 50%. Imports decreased by 17%, export of agricultural products increased by 44%, and the positive foreign trade balance of Azerbaijan in the first quarter of 2017 amounted to $ 1 billion 93.532 million. -0-