Russia is still the third (by volume) importer of fresh fruit and vegetables globally. In the past year, this involved a total of 7.1 million tonnes. This year it will be a few percent more. In 2018 it was higher, at 7.3 million tonnes. In the years between the introduction of the import boycott of a large number of countries and today it was less, with a low point in 2016. That year only 6.0 million tonnes were imported, partly because there was also a partial boycott on the import of Turkish product. In the years just before the boycott was introduced, Russia imported much more, with a peak in 2013 of 8.4 million tonnes. 2.3 million tonnes of this came from the boycotted countries.
Incentive programs do not seem to really work yet
Russia has been busy stimulating its own agricultural production after the boycott was instituted. In 2019, a program was started in which investments can receive a subsidy of up to 20%. The Russian government has earmarked an amount of 311 billion rubles for this (at the exchange rate at the end of November 2020, this is approximately 3.5 billion Euro). The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) notes that Russia mainly lacks sufficient good planting material. The plant material self-produced in Russia is said to be of poor quality. The USDA also indicates that there is a shortage of agricultural expertise in Russia. Because the ruble has fallen in value, the import of plant material, among other things, has become much more expensive.
Pears harvested and apples planted
Russia is a large producer of mainly vegetables. The own production of vegetables amounted to just under 14 million tonnes in 2018. Fruit production is estimated at 6 million tons. Vegetable production has even been somewhat smaller in recent years than in the period 2011-2015. Russian fruit production has grown. These quantities are therefore not (yet) large enough to provide the entire population with fruit and vegetables. The production figures do include estimates of non-commercial production. For apples, for example, the USDA estimates that on a total production of 1.54 million tonnes, 0.91 million tonnes are grown commercially and 0.63 million tonnes (40%) are non-commercial. In fact, for pears, more than 90% of its production is said to come from non-commercial orchards, according to USDA. Professional growers are increasingly switching to replacing old pear plantings with apples.
Apples are therefore one of the few growth products for Russia. According to the USDA, more and more is being planted. According to the official figures published by the Russian CBS, besides apples, only the production of watermelons, grapes, plums, mushrooms and cauliflower has grown.
Many fruits and vegetables grown in Caucasus and Central Asia
There are a number of countries around Russia where a lot of fruit and vegetables are grown. Uzbekistan, in particular, is a large one with a production of more than 9 million tonnes of vegetables and more than 6 million tonnes of fruit. Kazakhstan is also a large producer with 4 million tonnes of vegetables and 2.5 million tonnes of fruit. A lot of fruit and vegetables are also grown in countries such as Azerbaijan, Tashikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and closer to Serbia and Moldova.
High amount from Turkey
In the current corona year, 2% more fresh fruit and vegetables were imported into Russia in the first 8 months than in the same period last year. Markedly less came into the country via Belarus. More was imported from Turkey in particular. Much less Moroccan product has also been imported. Less was also imported from Egypt. This year, much more was imported from South Africa. The gap created by the boycott has therefore only partially been filled by imports from other countries. In 2018 and 2019, an average of 12% less fresh fruit and vegetables was imported into Russia than in 2013 and 2014. Only this year have imports from Turkey reached the level of the “short” boycott in 2018. Other countries have 1.1 million tonnes or a quarter more of fresh fruit and vegetables to Russia. Of this, 0.2 million tonnes were bananas from Ecuador. Most of the gap was filled with imports from former Soviet republics.
Azerbaijan the most important
The main countries concerned here are: Azerbaijan, located in the Caucasus region, with an import into Russia of 0.47 million tonnes in 2019, Moldova (0.35), the Central Asian countries Uzbekistan (0.22) and Kazakhstan (0.13). Serbia is now also one of Russia's major suppliers. Other countries that supply Russia are the Caucasus countries Georgia and Armenia and Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, located in Central Asia. The export assortment differs considerably from country to country. Uzbekistan as the main country exports a lot: onions, grapes, tomatoes, cabbage, apricots and peaches. Azerbaijan is number two with mainly tomatoes and persimmons. Number three Kazakhstan mainly supplies onions and melons. Serbia and Moldova mainly supply apples. Moldova also exports a lot of grapes.
Most stays in the region
The countries located in the Caucasus and Central Asia accounted for an import into Russia of 1.32 million tonnes in 2019. In total, these countries exported 2.3 million tonnes of fresh fruit and vegetables. In addition to Russia, internal trade between these countries was also important (0.7 million tonnes). All in all, therefore, only around 300,000 tonnes went to countries that cannot be considered part of the former Soviet republics. For example, only 60,000 tonnes went to the EU in 2019. That is quite different with countries to the west of Russia such as Serbia, Moldova and North Macedonia. Last year, 130,000 tonnes of fresh fruit and vegetables were delivered to the EU from Serbia, 50,000 tonnes from Moldova and 140,000 tonnes from North Macedonia.
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For more information:
Jan Kees Boon
Fruit and Vegetable Facts
+31 654 687 684
fruitvegfacts@gmail.com
www.fruitandvegetablefacts.com