Azernews.Az

By Aynur Jafarova

"No one would argue against the quality of fruits and vegetables imported from Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, the agricultural products from Central Asian countries are tastier and better than those imported from Europe. At least I like them more," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in his recent interview with local media.

He also promised that the prices of fruits and vegetables in the Russian market will remain acceptable, as there are lots of countries interested in replacing the products of Europe and the U.S.

Russia has banned the import of almost all fruits and vegetables from Poland, including apple, pear, cherry, peach, plum and cabbage since August 1.

Russia decided to put an embargo on import of agricultural products and food not only from Poland, but also from the U.S., EU, Canada, Australia, and Norway after the U.S. and the European Union imposed sanctions against Russia over Ukraine crisis.

Now the country plans to replace these products both with local products, and those to be imported from other countries, including Azerbaijan, Belarus, Serbia, Israel, Turkey, Argentina, Brazil, Iran, China and Tajikistan.

Imposition of bans on imports of European and U.S. products by Russia has created new opportunities for increasing the export capacity of Azerbaijan's agricultural products to this neighboring country.

Azerbaijan's delicious, high-quality and organic agricultural products have always enjoyed significant demands in the Russian market.