Russia Bans Azeri Tomatoes After War With Moscow’s Ally Armenia

Bloomberg
Dec 9 2020

‎December‎ ‎9‎, ‎2020‎ ‎11‎:‎36‎ ‎AM

Measure hits biggest export for Azerbaijan after oil, gas
Russian tomato import ban also targets two Turkish regions

Russia’s agricultural-goods watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, also said it’s considering broadening an earlier ban on tomato and pepper imports from parts of Turkey, which backed Azerbaijan militarily in the offensive against the separatist majority-ethnic-Armenian Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Russia, one of the world’s largest importers of tomatoes, on Wednesday also halted imports of tomatoes and peppers from an Armenian region bordering Turkey and a province in Uzbekistan. The regulator cited safety concerns for all the moves.

Azerbaijan sends almost all its tomato exports to Russia. The Russian ban, which also covers Azeri apples, threatens efforts by the government in Baku to diversify its economy away from oil and gas, which now account for 90% of exports.

There was no immediate public reaction from Baku, but Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news service cited an unnamed source in the Azerbaijani capital as saying the surprise move was likely a technical mistake and would soon be reversed.

Russia brokered a cease-fire last month under which Armenia lost control over the districts of Azerbaijan it captured in a 1990s war amid the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Kremlin had repeatedly and unsuccessfully urged a halt to hostilities since the conflict erupted Sept. 27. The Turkish involvement marked a setback for Russia, which has long regarded the region as its traditional backyard.

In 2015, Russia banned Turkish tomato imports following Turkey’s downing of a Russian fighter jet on the border with Syria. The Russian authorities later lifted it but kept in place a quota system limiting the supplies. Turkish producers have since turned to other markets to sell their products.

— With assistance by Zulfugar Agayev, Anatoly Medetsky, Vladimir Kuznetsov, and Andrey Lemeshko