The global efforts to sanction Russia in response to its attack on Ukraine impacted the global pet industry as Russian cats became the target of sanctions.
The International Feline Federation (FIFe) announced on Tuesday that the organization will ban Russian-owned pets from participating in its shows.
“The FIFe Executive Board is shocked and horrified that the Russian Federation Army has invaded the Republic of Ukraine and started a war,” said FIFe in a statement.
In response, FIFe banned cats that are bred in Russia from being imported and registered in the FIFe studbook. The organization said the rule would remain in place at least until the end of May.
FIFe is a federation of cat registries that has members in 39 countries in Europe, South America, and Asia. It is also one of the nine members of the World Cat Congress. According to its website, the federation holds over 700 shows across the world each year, including more than 200,000 cats being exhibited.
The decision made by the FIFe could affect many catteries in Russia. More than 200 catteries were members of Felis Russia, the Russian member of the FIFe, according to its website.
The EU’s sanctions on Russian flights also affected the pet food industry in Europe. In 2021, the Russian Ministry of Agriculture exported 160 thousand tons of pet food, representing a 32% increase compared to the same period in 2020.
“The major exporters of the Russian pet food are the EU member states, Norway, Turkey, the CIS countries, Ukraine, Mongolia. The opportunities for the Russian pet food sector to tap into Asian markets such as China could be fruitful for the sector. Growing numbers of pet owners result in a corresponding increase in pet food consumption,” said Fyodor Borisov, the Executive Director of the Russian Pet Food Producers Association.
In sum, Russia exported $21 million worth of pet food to Ukraine, and the Russian pet food worth $20 million was shipped to France in 2021.
Major pet food companies like Mars and Nestle Purina drove the increase in pet food production in Russia. Mars announced its plan to establish the third stage of its pet food production in Rostov Oblast, Russia in 2021.
In response, Mars’s competitor, Nestle Purina Petcare also announced expansion plans in Russia that aim to expand its production capacity to 75,000 tons of pet food per year.
As Russia continues to play an important role in the pet food export sector, the EU’s ban on Russian flights will worsen the supply chain for pet food in Europe.