Putin stops banana imports – Russians should now grow the fruit themselves

Trade dispute
Putin stops banana imports from Ecuador – Russians should now grow the tropical fruit themselves

In a trade dispute over food and arms supplies, Russia has stopped importing bananas from Ecuador. The impending shortage of tropical fruits should be compensated for by home cultivation.

Banana plantations are commonly found in tropical and subtropical areas. The climate there is best suited to producing the mostly yellow fruits with relatively little effort. They are then transported all over the world and contribute a large part to the food supply in various regions of the world.

Alleged pest infestation by humpback fly

For years, Ecuador, for example, exported its bananas to Russia, among others, until an import ban was imposed on five large Ecuadorian banana companies at the beginning of February. The reason for the measure was the occurrence of the harmful humpback fly in previous deliveries. A statement released by Rosselkhoznadzor, Russia’s veterinary and phytosanitary surveillance bureau, said it had suspended the import permits of five Ecuadorian exporters as of “February 5,” Russian news agency Interfax summarizes.

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In response, Oleg Knyaskov, head of the Russian consumer protection agency, advised that Russians should grow their own bananas in the future to compensate for the loss. In an interview with “Gazeta” he refers to experiments in the Krasnodar Territory. Researchers there apparently succeeded in adapting the tropical plants to the local climate.

Putin apparently upset about Ecuador’s arms deal

The background to the import ban by Russia is probably less the complained about pest infestation than resentment over Ecuador’s arms exports. As Deutsche Welle writes, the ban on banana imports came after Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa announced on January 10 that he had accepted the United States’ offer to exchange old Soviet military equipment for new-generation American weapons at an estimated value of around 200 million US dollars (around 185 million euros).

In this context, Washington stated that the weapons exchanged with Ecuador would be sent to Ukraine to support its troops on the front against Russia. This bilateral agreement then aroused the anger of Moscow and especially that of President Putin.

According to the AP news agency, Ecuador is the world’s largest exporter of bananas, shipping more than six million tons by sea every year. Russia recently purchased 90 percent of its bananas from the South American country.

Sources: German wave, “Gazeta”, Interfax, AP