Russia has historically been one of Fonterra’s top butter markets and the cooperative has a Moscow office.
Fonterra has suspended shipments of dairy products to Russia, citing the rapidly changing situation and sanctions being taken against the country.
Russia has historically been one of Fonterra’s top butter markets and the cooperative has a Moscow office, as well as jointly owning a St Petersburg dairy factory with its Russian distributor since 2017.
Last year, New Zealand sold $132 million of dairy products to the Russian Federation, down from $195m in 2020 and $201m in 2019.
Fonterra’s director of global stakeholder affairs Simon Tucker said food, including dairy products, were generally exempt from international sanctions.
But Fonterra had suspended shipments of product to Russia “while we continue to monitor developments”, Tucker said.
