Russian vegetable producers consider export directions

Russian producers of greenhouse products plan to export vegetables, amid the growth of yield and earnings dilution. One of the promising directions is supplies to the Gulf countries.

The Ministry of Agriculture of Russia reports that the volume of production of vegetables of a protected ground is sufficient to fulfill the Russian market. Particularly, the country has built over 1.1 thousand hectares of greenhouses. Therefore, Russia is 90% provided with cucumbers and 60% with tomatoes. The Ministry expects another record volume of greenhouse vegetable production this year. At least 1.25 million tons, which is 6.1% higher than in 2019.

“The Middle East market is more interesting in terms of export. There are high-margin products and rather expensive packaging in the UAE. The Russian market lags too far behind the UAE market in terms of creativity in packaging. However, our producers’ advantage lies in unique varieties of tomato products with diverse forms and a high content of soluble sugar,” said Vagif Bikulov, General Director of Moe Leto company.

According to him, the company did not export products in 2019. Nevertheless, they are currently negotiating deliveries to European countries and the UAE. Vagif Bikulov also noted that Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Finland are the most interesting countries from the point of view of export to Europe. However, the logistics issue negatively affects the potential capacity of Russian greenhouse product producers.

Source: Prime