Importing 50,000 tonnes of Turkish tomatoes won't affect Russian market
MOSCOW. Oct 19 (Interfax) - The amount of tomatoes that will be imported from Turkey - a total of 50,000 tonnes - will not affect Russia's overall domestic market, Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev said.
"We import about 500,000 tonnes of tomatoes a year. This is a fairly large volume. The Turkish partners will supply about 50,000 tonnes to our market as a result of these decisions. That is, this is absolutely no great share," Tkachev told journalists on Thursday.
Russia imports tomatoes from a host of countries, including Morocco, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan and Belarus. The geography of tomato supplies is quite extensive, he said.
"I am confident that these fairly small lots [from Turkey] will affect neither pricing, nor volumes. All the more so that the market in tomatoes has pretty much crystallized in recent years," he said.
Support for construction of greenhouses continues. "We will support and develop smallholders, farms in this business, in this area," he said.