Jakarta. President Prabowo Subianto’s first Russian state trip had led to the possibility of Moscow exporting more wheat while also introducing its meat to Jakarta.

Prabowo is in St. Petersburg to attend an economic seminar and hold a meeting with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, on Thursday. The talks had zeroed in on how both countries could be better trading partners as Russia wished to further penetrate Indonesia’s agrifood market. In the joint press conference, Putin said that Russia had agreed to ramp up its wheat exports.

“We will boost our Russian wheat supplies for Indonesia, and also buy more agricultural products from your country,” Putin said at the Konstantine Novsky Palace.

Putin then pointed out the recently signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) involving Indonesia’s halal certifying body, BPJPH, and his country’s accreditation agency, RusAccreditation. Under this deal, both countries have agreed to recognize each other’s halal certification -- a document that states the product in question abides by Islamic law. Putin told Prabowo that this deal “could enable Russian livestock products to enter the Indonesian market.”

Agricultural Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman revealed in a separate announcement that talks were underway for Indonesia -- the world's largest Muslim-majority country -- to open its doors to Russian meat. The minister did not go into details about whether Russia was only interested in selling its beef or also poultry meat. Indonesia requires the meat that it imports to be halal-certified. Moscow is also mulling buying more Indonesian crude palm oil (CPO). 

According to Putin’s estimates, Russia-Indonesia trade amounted to $4.3 billion in 2024. This is much higher compared to the figures published by the Indonesian Trade Ministry, which reported that bilateral trade had reached almost $3.6 billion last year. Indonesia’s imports hit $2.2 billion over the same period.

Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said not long ago that his country had increased its grain supplies to Indonesia by 22 percent in physical terms last year. The Indonesian Central Statistics Agency (BPS) put Russia among Indonesia’s major wheat suppliers in 2024 as of September, supplying about 956,010 tons.

The Southeast Asian nation had imported 18,220 tons of beef worth $61.2 million in January, BPS data showed. The cattle meat mainly came from India (73.5 percent), Australia (15.7 percent), and Brazil (nearly 9 percent).