Eat this, U.S.! Sanctions can give a major boost to reindeer meat industry in Siberia

As American beef disappears, venison can take a bigger slice of the market.

© Alexander Tyryshkin

Estimates say some 70,000 reindeer will be slaughtered this year for venison.

The Russian government has targeted US and EU food imports with an embargo in a tit-for-tat move for sanctions imposed over the Ukraine crisis.

With US and European meat disappearing from supermarkets in Russia, there is an opportunity for domestic producers to fill gaps in the market.

Schools and hospitals in Chukota which nudges Alaska in the east of the country are to be supplied from local reindeer herds to replace American imports.

TV news reports in Russia have promoted reindeer delicacies from producers in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug.

Reindeer's meat is ecologically clean, and that is why neither French foie gras, nor Spanish jambon nor any other foreign delicacies can compare with it',

said a Vesti news report on Russian television.

© Alexander Tyryshkin, Yamal Governor's press service

Sanctions can give a major boost to reindeer meat industry in Siberia.

The region is an exporter of venison to the European Union, with 500 tons of meat sent to Germany, Finland and Sweden this year but now supplies will also go to TV report trumpeting the benefits of home-grown produce. Estimates say some 70,000 reindeer will be slaughtered this year for venison.

Now supplies will go to central Russia as the Russian government encourages producers to fill the gaps in the market left by banned imports.