MOSCOW: The “Rossiyskaya Gazeta” reported that the first shipment, which included apples and garlic, was already delivered by train. The Chinese shipment departed from Linyi City and included apples and garlic, at 26 tons each. The shipper plans to export approximately 30 thousand tons of apples to Russia every year.
Roman Alekhin, the spokesperson for the Russian marketing group “Alekhin and Co”, stated that “there is a market demand for apples and vegetables in Russia in the winter, but the question is how China will be able to compete with suppliers from other countries when it comes to price or quality.”
Alexey Korenev, analyst at Finam Group, said that “the production volume of this country can only satisfy an annual demand of 5.8 kg per Russian citizen. According to the data announced by the Health Department Russia consumes an average of 50 kg of apples per person per year. The urgent demand for an expansion of imports is evident, not just for apples, but for garlic and other kinds of vegetables and fruits as well.”
According to his presentation, Russia is the world’s largest importer of pears. He therefore estimates that Russia will also start to import that fruit from China. It needs to be pointed out that China occupies a global leading position in this area.
