Russia’s largest producer of tomato paste, Astrakhansky, is facing a shortage of tomato seeds. This was reported by RBC.
The problem of the agricultural producer arose in connection with the ban on the import of Dutch planting materials into the Russian Federation. The ban was introduced by Rosselkhoznadzor at the end of November 2023 due to the discovery of quarantine objects in seeds from the Netherlands. The share of tomato seeds from this country at AIC Astrakhansky was 35%.
General Director of Astrakhansky AIC Mikhail Zaitsev said that there are no Russian seeds for the production of tomato paste on an industrial scale in the country. According to him, this is a serious problem for the business because seed orders and supplies are agreed in advance.
Before that Rosstat reportedIt was stated that the most expensive products in the Russian market in 2023 are eggs, tomatoes and pears. While the price of eggs increased by 61.4 percent during the year, the price of tomatoes increased by 51.1 percent and the price of pears increased by 48.3 percent. The top five most expensive products included bananas (46.9%) and grapes (48.2%).
Previously Russian chicken and egg producers contacted to the authorities for assistance.