As of: February 16, 2024, 6:03 p.m
By: Tadhg Nagel
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People in Russia should grow their own fruit.
Putin had previously banned banana imports from Ecuador due to a dispute over arms deliveries.
Moscow - Residents of Russia have been urged to grow their own bananas.
There is a risk of a shortage because Russian head of state Vladimir Putin recently imposed an import ban on Ecuadorian bananas.
The trigger was apparently a dispute over arms deliveries.
The embargo has now been partially lifted.
Oleg Knyaskov, the head of the industrial competence center of Russia's consumer protection agency Rosselkhoznadzor, told local news site
Gazeta
that he expects a nationwide banana shortage in a month.
He therefore advised Russians to grow bananas in their own country.
According to Putin, pests in the fruit deliveries - or Ecuadorian weapons for Ukraine
Knyaskov's comments came after Vladimir Putin on February 2 suspended banana imports from five Ecuadorian companies - Agzulasa, Don Carlos Fruit, Agroaerero Fruit Export, Association of Agricultural Production of El Oro (Asoproagroro) and the Banana Marketing Company of the South (Comersur). .
The ban was later extended to 13 more exporters.
Putin justified this by saying that pests had been found in the fruit deliveries.
However, the real reason seems to be different.
Vladimir Putin wants to import fewer bananas from Ecuador.
© ALEXEY DRUZHININ
A few weeks earlier, Ecuador had accepted an offer from the US to exchange Soviet-era military equipment for modern US weapons worth $200 million (around 186 million euros).
The United States had stated that Ecuador's Soviet equipment would be sent to Ukraine to support the country in the Ukrainian War.
Ecuador exchanges old Soviet weapons with the USA – a “reckless decision” for Russia
For Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, it was a “reckless decision” by Ecuador that was made “under serious pressure from external interests.”
According to Zakharova, it is unlikely that the military equipment is actually scrap, as Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa had claimed.
After all, Washington offered “modern equipment” for a “pretty impressive amount” in return.
According to
Militarny,
a Ukrainian war industry association, Ecuador remains an active operator of Soviet-made weapons and systems.
The country also has ammunition that was manufactured during the existence of the USSR or in the modern Russian Federation.
These are heavy weapons such as grenade launchers, rocket artillery and anti-aircraft systems.
However, it is not known which of these weapons will be exchanged with the USA.
Embargo now relaxed - Ecuador could have lost up to $754 million
The export ban would have been a serious blow to Ecuador's economy.
Russian state news agency
RIA Novosti
reported that Ecuador could lose up to $754 million in a year as a result of the ban.
Local Russian media reported that Russia imports 90 percent of its bananas from the South American country.
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The Russian food safety supervisory authority has now apparently partially lifted the import ban.
The business newspaper Kommersant
reported this
on Friday (February 16).
Meanwhile, the Ecuadorian Foreign Ministry said it was sending a delegation to Moscow to resolve the issue of banana exports, the independent newspaper
Moscow Times
writes.
Nevertheless, according to the newspaper, there are plans to purchase bananas from other countries in the future.
Possible sources are India and other South American countries, such as Colombia.
Earlier this month, it said Russia had started buying bananas from India to boost imports following the failure of Ecuadorian producers.
However, according to an industry insider, there are major logistical hurdles that must be overcome before Russia can make the switch.
(tpn)