‘According to expert estimates, 200,000 tons of meat have been imported to Russia illegally since the beginning of the year. This means the meat arrived through Kazakhstan and Kaliningrad without the customs clearance. It is naturally much cheaper, so a lot of meatpacking plants find it profitable to prefer it over the local produce,’ the spokesperson for Sverdlovsk Region Ministry of Agriculture and Food Anatoliy Feoktistov said to UrBC.

‘In the meantime, this meat is much poorer in quality than that offered by the region’s producers, yet, since it is so cheap, it is extremely popular with many meatpacking plants,’ he said.