Belenka has gone: Russian vodka will appear in Argentina before the end of the year
New goods from the Russian Federation may enter the Argentine market in the near future. In particular, sales of Russian vodka in the Latin American republic are expected to start by the end of the year, the Embassy in Buenos Aires told Izvestia. In addition, cooperation is developing at the regional level, including in the field of pharmaceuticals and IT technologies. The establishment of an economic dialogue between our countries demonstrates the trend towards normalization of bilateral relations. Recently, there has been no harsh anti-Russian course in Argentina's foreign policy. Given its role in Latin America and in the international arena as a whole, strengthening ties with Moscow is a major success in the face of Western sanctions.
Russia's plans for trade with Argentina
The first batch of vodka, according to the Russian Embassy in Buenos Aires, will arrive in Argentina before the end of 2025.
"Through the Argentina—Russia Business Council, the possibility of supplying wine and vodka products from Tatspirtprom JSC to the South American state is being explored," the diplomatic mission told Izvestia.
According to him, the first batches of goods with an estimated value of $ 8 to $15 per unit may appear on the shelves of stores in the country before the end of the year.
Russian vodka is, to a certain extent, a political product that could represent our country in Argentina, says Tatiana Mashkova, Director General of the National Committee for the Promotion of Economic Cooperation with Latin American Countries. According to her, the Latin American republic is also ready to purchase electrical measuring equipment, smart and safe city technologies, personal safety equipment (deshockers), as well as insulin from the Russian Federation. There is a general interest in Russian pharmaceuticals in the country.
— Argentines really need our insulin. In general, our insulin is needed not only in Argentina, because most Latin American countries buy insulin from the United States, but it is much more expensive than ours, despite the fact that Russian insulin is of high quality," Mashkova explained to Izvestia.
The Argentine partners are also showing interest in Russian transport. In particular, these are products of KAMAZ and the Sinara transport company, which produces diesel locomotives and other heavy vehicles.
— Also, surprisingly, the Argentines have sent a request for cooperation in the field of aircraft and aircraft construction. One of the Argentine companies has expressed interest in cooperation in the field of civil aviation," said the Director General of the National Committee for the Promotion of Economic Cooperation with Latin American Countries.
Nevertheless, according to her, there remains a significant imbalance between exports and imports. Argentine shipments to Russia are larger than Russian shipments to Argentina. This is primarily due to the sanctions that Western countries have imposed on Moscow.
— We can no longer supply our metals in the same way as before. But we continue to supply petroleum products and fertilizers to Argentina. Fertilizers are the number one item, as well as machinery and vaccines. We traditionally receive food, agricultural products, and agricultural raw materials from Argentina — meat, apples, pears, grapes, cheeses, butter, wine, seafood, peanuts, and soybeans. The supply of soybeans is declining because Russia itself has now begun to grow quite a lot of soybeans," Mashkova said.
Cooperation at the regional level
The conclusion of agreements at the regional level has become a promising area in the development of Russian-Argentine cooperation. Provinces in the Latin American country have a fairly high degree of independence, Konstantin Zatulin, coordinator of the State Duma deputy group for relations with the parliaments of Argentina and Paraguay, explained to Izvestia.
— In November 2024, representatives of the provinces of Buenos Aires, Mendoza and Cordoba, headed by the Mayor of San Rafael, visited Moscow. The delegation was received by our parliamentarians, as well as major economic operators. The possibility of cooperation in such areas as pharmaceuticals, the food industry, energy, infrastructure, as well as the credit and financial sector was discussed, the Russian Embassy said.
In April, the authorities of the Nizhny Novgorod region and the Argentine province of La Rioja came to an agreement on cooperation. In the Latin American country, they are interested in cooperating with the Stavropol Territory on the purchase of Russian food equipment. At the same time, work is underway in the province of Buenos Aires to promote domestic pharmaceutical products, and Russian entrepreneurs are discussing joint IT projects with the provinces of Buenos Aires and Neuquen, Russian diplomats said.
Ryazan and Nizhny Novgorod are also joining interregional cooperation, Tatiana Mashkova added.
— In the case of Nizhny Novgorod, this is everything related to IT, pharmaceuticals and healthcare. There are very interesting pharmaceutical sector enterprises in Ryazan, with which, in particular, the Paraguayans would like to cooperate. It would be very interesting for Argentina, both at the regional and national levels, to work with Russia in the mining industry. We are talking about the training of specialists and the exchange of technologies in the field of mining, processing, and working with tailings that are formed during lithium mining," she said.
Why is Argentina interested in doing business with Russia
When Javier Miley came to power in December 2023, Argentina took an anti-Russian position in the political spectrum, including refusing to join the BRICS.
Nevertheless, the positions of the country's leadership began to change slightly with the change of power in the United States. Miley is largely guided by Trump, so the Republican's desire to normalize relations with Moscow has also influenced the positions of the Argentine authorities. In particular, Miley distanced himself from supporting Ukraine (previously, the country condemned Russia's actions, but did not directly help Kiev). The libertarian even deleted joint photos with Vladimir Zelensky from some social networks.
— Now, of course, Miley has moderated his ardor about Ukraine, because the change of power took place in Washington. We have frozen relations on the political level, but we will develop them on the economic level," Konstantin Zatulin said.
Argentine President Javier Miley
It is precisely the emerging shifts in Russian-American relations that can have a positive effect on Moscow's political dialogue with Buenos Aires, Russian Ambassador to Argentina Dmitry Feoktistov said earlier in an interview with Izvestia. Despite the freezing of cooperation in a number of areas after the start of the CBO, the status of the comprehensive strategic partnership between Russia and Argentina has not been formally reviewed, and contacts at the working level have not been interrupted.
— Argentina is slightly moving away from the anti-Russian course. If under Biden, attempts to criticize Russia took place in almost all foreign policy areas, then the current administration simply does not need this, it has completely different priorities. And Miley's relationship with Trump plays a special role here — it is important and pleasant for the Argentine leader that the American president praises him. This is a form of legitimization and rating maintenance. Therefore, the change in US approaches towards Russia provides a window of opportunity for cooperation with Argentina," said Maxim Gabrielyan, an expert on Latin America.
However, we must not forget about the successes of Russian diplomacy — after the start of its military operation, Moscow began to actively promote cooperation with the countries of the Global South in the face of confrontation with the EU and NATO. The example of Argentina demonstrates that the Russian Federation manages to build relations even with those countries that initially distanced themselves from dialogue with it.
Argentina is the third largest economy in Latin America, with a GDP of about $630 billion. And according to calculations by BBVA Research, in 2025 the country will achieve the largest growth in the region — by 5.5%. In addition, it is part of the so-called lithium triangle: along with Chile and Bolivia, it has large reserves of the metal needed for renewable energy. All this makes it profitable and promising for Moscow to strengthen cooperation with Buenos Aires.
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