Russia turning to Egypt for citrus and potatoes

Volumes of Egyptian products including citrus and potatoes are growing to the Russian market, according to Denis Logvinenko of Egyptian exporter Egast, who is personally based in Novorossiysk, near Russia’s largest port.

“Volumes are not just increasing to Russia,” he revealed, “but to all the ex-Soviet Union countries, including Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan.”

Sanctions on Russia since its annexation of Crimea in 2014, and the Russian embargo that followed, have limited import options for companies, while pushing the country to invest in food independence, but it’s not there yet.

According to Logvinenko, Russian importers are glad to be able to work with Egyptian companies. “We still depend on some other countries, and the quality of Egyptian citrus is very good, especially the oranges,” he said. “The quality of the grapefruit may be lower than Spanish, but all other citrus it’s perfect.

“In addition, our local potatoes are not available all year round. We have them from May until around December, but the quality is not so good later in the season, so we turn to Egypt, which perfectly complements the Russian season.”