Russian roulette: Sugar Version

At the beginning of the 21st century, Russia was the leading sugar importer - importing around 4 million to 5 million tonnes sugar to satisfy local demand of around 6 million tonnes as domestic production was only 2 million tonnes. In 2007, the government sketched out a national sugar policy to expand sugar production to cover at least 80% of domestic consumption. The price tag for the expansion was US$2 billion and the government chipped in with US$560 million. Domestic sugar production continued to expand from 2011, peaking to over 7 million tonnes in 2018. Following a significant decline in sugar production in 2020/21, impacted by weather, the government intervened to rein in escalating sugar prices during the election year in 2021. Russia secured from the Eurasian Economic Commission a duty-free import quota of 350 000 tonnes for refined sugar from 15 May to 30 September 2021. Question remains as to whether the domestic producers are vulnerable from the relaxation of border control.