With food imports at a virtual standstill for the past two weeks due to the financial crisis, Ireland's lucrative beef trade with Russia has been hit as importers wait for an end to uncertainty before placing new orders.

An Bord Bia's chief representative in Moscow, Mr Peter McSweeney, told The Irish Times yesterday he was hopeful that the beef trade would pick up again when the political and economic situation stabilised.

Importers, he said, had been put in a very difficult position by massive fluctuations in the price of the dollar against the rouble and by new customs regulations imposed as a result of the financial crisis.

The large cities of Moscow and St Petersburg depend on imports for up to 80 per cent of their non-essential foodstuffs and the Moscow government has announced that the city has enough food reserves for another 30 days.

Mr McSweeney said he was sure that beef imports to the two cities would pick up soon as beef was an essential part of the Russian diet and imports from Ireland were an essential part of the beef supply.

Some suppliers, particularly those who had stocks in hand, had "called a halt or slowed down" imports from Ireland, Mr McSweeney said, but he was sure this was purely a temporary situation.

Russia and Egypt have been Ireland's best customers for beef in recent years.