Test 24 | Russia's banana import from India may increase as Ecuador ties crumble

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Russia is currently looking at alternative sources to import bananas, including India, the country’s food safety watchdog has said. India sent its first batch of bananas from to Russia in January and the next is planned for end-February, Russian watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said. It is possible that "the volume of exports of Indian bananas to the Russian market will increase" as the country stares at a looming banana shortage.

Russia's trade ties with India have deepened since 2022, when Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, forcing it to seek greater trade with non-Western countries.

The current development comes as Russia has imposed a partial ban on imports from Ecuador effective February 5 after allegedly finding pests in previous shipment from the country. Russia's Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision (Rosselkhoznadzor) announced on February 3 that it is banning imports from five Ecuadorian banana companies, claiming that a disease had been discovered in previous shipments. This move could result in Russia facing a banana shortage and price hikes, a Bloomberg report stated.

Notably, Ecuador is Russia's primary source of bananas, which is a staple fruit in the country. Also, Ecuador is one of the world's leading banana exporters. The fruit's sales in 2022 amounted to $3.52 billion, roughly one-tenth of all of Ecuador's exports for that year. Some $779 million of these exports – more than one-fifth – went to Russia. According to Rosselkhoznadzor, Ecuadorian bananas account for 96% of all banana imports to Russia.

However, the ban is believed to be retaliatory in nature as it follows a political dispute over arms supply. This was triggered by the South American country’s decision to exchange old Russian military equipment with new ones from the United States. The Ecuadorian government had announced in January that it would send what it called "Ukrainian and Russian scrap metal" to the US in exchange for modern equipment worth $200 million. The Russian Foreign Ministry frowned upon the move and dubbed it “reckless”.

Although Russian authorities did not explicitly link the Indian banana import decision with the US-Ecuador deal, but Moscow has a history of restricting food imports from countries with which it has disputes.

(With agency inputs)