Russia was a net exporter of cucumbers in the first four months of 2020 , when imports of greenhouse vegetables were high! In this period, Russia's tomato imports decreased by 17% , while exports began to improve for the first time.
While Russia exported the cucumbers produced in its own greenhouses, in the first four months of 2021 , it exported the tomatoes it produced in its greenhouses to Poland , which is a producer and exporter for the first time.
According to trade statistics, Russia exported 579 tons of fresh cucumbers to Poland in January-April 2021. In light of these data, Poland became the second largest market for Russian greenhouses after Belarus. During the same period, Russia became one of the top five suppliers of cucumbers to the Polish market.
Against the EU and Ukraine's ban on the supply of all food products, including vegetables and fruits, to Russia; It is noteworthy that the supply from Russia to these regions is not prohibited. Currently, while Russia protects its market against vegetables and fruits coming from these regions, it also uses the opportunity to export the greenhouse products it produces to these markets.
According to Andriy Yarmak , economist of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Investment Center, the dynamic growth in the production of greenhouse vegetables in Russia causes price volatility in the market, especially in the greenhouse cucumbers segment. In the increase in supply, the prices of cucumbers fall sharply and with the active export made in this period, especially to Belarus , the prices again increase sharply.
Cucumbers produced in Russian greenhouses are exported to Moldova , Estonia and Georgia as well as Poland. While exports to Moldova increased by 2.6 times, exports to Estonia increased by 75% and exports to Georgia , which had never been exported before, were made for the first time.
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Russia, which has modest figures in greenhouse tomatoes exports, made its first big exports to Poland, Estonia and Georgia with the winter. Russia's tomato exports to Belarus between January and April 2021 increased by 19% compared to the same period of 2020.
Despite the decrease in greenhouse tomato imports to Russia in the examined period of 2021, there were also countries that increased their exports to this market drastically. The increase in greenhouse tomato exports from Turkmenistan to Russia is remarkable. By increasing its greenhouse tomato export to Russia by 2.2 times, Turkmenistan surpassed Uzbekistan and China in exports.
Morocco , one of the important greenhouse tomato suppliers of the Russian market, could not supply due to the mosaic virus detected in its tomatoes. With this event, Turkey stepped in in supply and maintained its leadership position in tomato exports to Russia. With this export, Turkey remained at the same level of the previous year in its tomato exports to Russia.
Major investments in state-of-the-art greenhouse complexes in Russia are starting to bear fruit. According to experts in the greenhouse business, how successful these projects are economically and how stable they will be if the competition in the market is high is still a big question.