Few requests intervention measure boycott Russia

Dutch top fruit growers have made few requests for compensation. About nine percent of the available room has been used. Russia imported less fruit and vegetables, Ecuador, Turkey and Belarus are the main trade partners. A Polish apple grower reported wanting to move his production to Russia. The Polish export and import of fruit and vegetables were lower than the trade figures from 2014 in the first months of 2015. Moldovan growers threatened to protest if the promised compensation isn't paid. The government wants to postpone payment.

Since opening up the intervention measure at the beginning of September in connection with the Russian boycott, Dutch fruit growers have reported 2,000 tonnes of apples and pears, NFO reports. This means 9 percent of the Dutch quota of 22,950 tonnes has been used. This quota applies until June 2016. The fruit taken off the market mainly goes to food banks, because that's what the highest compensations are paid for. In addition, 27 reports of green harvesting for apples and pears have come in. The quota for soft fruit, plums and vegetables has been set at 3,000 tonnes for this year. For plums, limited use has been made of this.

Import Russia decreased
In the first seven months of this year, Russia imported 4,186 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables. 17,800 tonnes of this was imported from boycotted countries, the remaining 4,168 million tonnes were imported from other countries, FAMMA/FAPA data shows.

Of the volume, over half, 2,749 million tonnes, consists of fruit. The remaining 1,437 million tonnes are vegetables. A year earlier, 5,252 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables was imported, 1,475 million tonnes of which originating from boycotted countries. Before the boycott, the imported volume from countries that are now not boycotted, was 3,678 million tonnes.

In the first seven months of this year, Ecuador, Turkey and Belarus were Russia's most important trade partners. Of bananas, apples, tomatoes and mandarins, the highest volumes were imported.

During talks between the Polish ambassador in Moscow and the governor of the Rostov region, one of the subjects under discussion was a Polish entrepreneur with plans to establish an apple cultivation company in Russia. The Polish entrepreneur wants to move his company to Russia. The governor was interested in the company move, he says it's profitable for both parties.

The Russian authorities have denied a shipment of Turkish grapes access to the country. According to the inspection, the grapes are infected with Western flower thrips. The shipment reportedly contained 24 tonnes of grapes, coming into Russia through the port of Gelendzhik.

Polish export turned out significantly lower than last year in the first seven month of this year. The export of fruit went down by 28 percent, vegetable export turned out 20 percent lower. This means export amounted to 676,900 tonnes of fruit and 339,200 tonnes of vegetables. Main cause for the decline are Russia's closed borders. The export to the eastern neighbours went down significantly. The export of processed fruit and veg did increase. 465,500 tonnes of fruit and 422,700 tonnes of vegetables were exported processed. That's an increase of fourteen and three percent respectively. The import also turned out lower during this period. While in 2014 678,900 tonnes of fruit was imported, this amounted to 632,400 tonnes this year. The vegetable import amounted to 315,000 tonnes, a year earlier this was 371,000 tonnes.

Growers in Moldova threaten to take to the streets if the government does not pay compensation for the losses suffered by growers due to the boycott. According to one producer organization, 2.3 million dollars of damage were suffered in 2014. The government made available a compensation, but hasn't paid anything yet. The proposal is now pay the compensation in 2016. The boycott followed a free trade agreement between Moldova and the EU. Last summer, Russia opened its borders again to a number of Moldovan companies.

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