WARSAW: Last year saw a 10 percent drop in Polish fruit exports compared with 2014, and a 19 percent fall in exports of vegetables. Analysts have argued that the key factor is a Russian embargo that was introduced in August 2014.
According to the Foundation of Assistance Programmes for Agriculture, Poland exported just short of 680,000 tonnes of fresh vegetables in 2015, and about 1.1 million tonnes of fresh fruit.
Fellow EU countries remain the best market for Poland at present, with 561,500 tonnes of vegetables exported there last year, and 575,500 tonnes of fruit. In both cases, marked increases were recorded, with EU imports of Polish vegetables rising by almost 100,000 tonnes, and of fruit by 181,000 tonnes. The Russian embargo was introduced following sanctions against Moscow in the wake of the Ukrainian crisis.
