Information for fruit and vegetables business in CIS
Uzbek vegetable exports benefit from Russia's Western import ban
Uzbekistan's exports of fruit and vegetables, worth billions of dollars a year, are surging thanks to strong Russian demand, an Uzbek official said on Tuesday, with the Central Asian country benefiting from Moscow's ban on imports from the West.
Uzbekistan aims to export 3 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables a year, Deputy Prime Minister Ulugbek Ruzikulov said as he opened the country's first international fruit and vegetable fair in Tashkent.
He did not provide a timeline or comparative figures, but this year alone, Uzbekistan has signed contracts with companies from Russia, Kazakhstan, China, South Korea and European countries to export 2.5 million tonnes of products.
Russia imposed a ban in 2014 on Western imports of certain products in response to Western sanctions over Moscow's role in the Ukraine conflict.
In the 2013 crop year, according to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Uzbekistan exported just 500,000 tonnes of fruits and vegetables worth $1.5 billion.
USDA wrote in a 2014 report that Russia's decision to ban imports of certain agricultural commodities, including fresh fruits and vegetables from the United States, the European Union, and other Western countries - in retaliation for sanctions - opened up the Russian market to Uzbek supplies.
On Tuesday, Ruzikulov said that securing a "green corridor" to Russia was part of Uzbekistan's strategy. The former Soviet republic does not border Russia, although Kazakhstan which separates them is part of a Russia-led economic and customs union.
Another factor is Tashkent's decision to reduce cotton sowing area in response to the plunge in the price of the commodity which is one Uzbekistan's main exports. The government said in January it would reduce cotton output by 10 percent over the next five years.