Russia's two organic producers unions to merge

MOSCOW. Dec 4 (Interfax) - Russia's two unions for producers of organic agricultural products, the National Organic Union and the Union of Organic Farming, have decided to merge.

"In the current difficult conditions, the participants of the National Organic Union and the Union of Organic Farming decided to merge as the Union of Organic Farming. This will help strengthen its work in the legislative sphere in partnership with the Federation Council, the State Duma, the Ministry of Agriculture, Roskachestvo and other relevant agencies to develop the organic production sector," their press release said.

"The association will work for the benefit of producers and consumers of organic products and contribute to the sustainable development of the Russian market for organic products, creating economic, legal and social conditions for achieving this mission. Work to popularize organic products will also be strengthened," National Organic Union executive director Nadezhda Stepkina, said.

"I am confident that the merger of the two organizations will help improve the efficiency of our work overall, and increase the number of certified organic producers in the country," Sergei Korshunov, chairman of the board of the Union of Organic Farming said.

As reported, the Russian organic market is estimated to be worth 12.8 billion rubles, with plans to increase it to 114 billion rubles by 2030. By this time, exports of Russian organics are expected to grow to 27 billion rubles.

As of mid-November, the register of organic product producers in Russia consisted of 165 companies.

The global organic market is currently valued at $164.5 billion and is expected to grow to $220 billion by 2028.