June 8 2006, 10:05

Will Russians have no Crimean cherry?

To import fresh vegetables and fruits on the territory of Russian Federation, entrepreneurs will have to collect plenty of documents now.

According to information provided by V. Anyukhin, the Chief of State Phyto-Sanitary Control Inspection, Russian Federation adopted a new temporary procedure of fresh produce import to the country. In addition to phyto-sanitary certificate, an importer has to collect now five other licenses in various state institutions.

"Strawberry and cherry have already ripened in Crimea. It takes time to legalize all the necessary documents, so Russians are likely to have no Crimean fruits at all. Maybe, the prices on our markets will be more affordable too. Still, there is a little hope for it in peak of tourists' season", Yelena Ivanova wrote in "Slava Sevastopolya" newspaper.

"Actually, Russians are the traditional buyers of Crimean fruits, but they purchase commodities on site in Crimea during vacations", Maxim Yenchenko says, the Market Information Specialist of the Agricultural Marketing Project. So, Maxim Yenchenko rejects the possibility that Russians do not have Crimean fruits because of the complicated exporting terms. Very insignificant volumes of fruits are supplied from Crimea to Russia, as the inner demand is enormous during tourists' season. There is no sense to supply fruits and berries outside Crimea.

At the same time, tourists will feel shortage of Crimean cherry this year; it will be hard to find Crimean peach on market. Winter frosts killed fruiting buds on trees; cherry harvest will be twice as less, and peach will yield only in separate cases.

To specialist's opinion, tighter export provisions adopted by Russian Federation will affect more the producers of fruits and berries in Southern-Eastern Ukraine, who really supply a significant part of harvested commodities to Russian market.