Azerbaijan ranks among main tomato exporters to Russia
By Nigar Abbasova
Being the main export market of Azerbaijan for agricultural products, Russia recorded a growth in the volume of tomatoes imported from the country.
Azerbaijan has managed to enter the top-three and became a runner-up in the list of main exporters of tomatoes to Russia.
The country exported some 86,000 tons of tomatoes in January-September 2016, recording a 56 percent growth in the volume, as compared to the figures of 2015, according to Izvestia.
Morocco held the leading positions in the list, while the volume of imported tomatoes from the country amounted to 88,700 tons, recording an increase of 158 percent in the reported period.
Azerbaijan places a serious emphasis on the promotion of export potential, while local entrepreneurs get a huge assistance and a number of incentives.
Moreover, Azerbaijan’s Deputy Agriculture Minister Ilham Guliyev, earlier said that the two countries established a "green corridor" for the export of agricultural products, which in turn positively influenced the trade turnover between the countries.
Azerbaijan entered the top 3 suppliers of agricultural products to Russia among the CIS countries, after Moscow imposed anti-Turkish sanctions. Then, rejection of Turkish tomatoes became one of the critical issues for Russia, as nearly 70 percent of tomatoes in the Russian market are imported.
However, experts say that mending of ties between Turkey and Russia does not affect the growth of the trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Russia, as the figure increases every year, due to the quality of Azerbaijani products and their already well-established place on the Russian market.
The trade turnover between Azerbaijan and Russia totaled $1.35 billion in January-September 2016, with some $251.6 million accounting for the export of Azerbaijani goods to Russia, according to Azerbaijan’s State Customs Committee. Russia is the third among importers from Azerbaijan.
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Nigar Abbasova is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @nigyar_abbasova
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