Poland, the biggest apple producer and exporter in the EU, has been giving preference to export apples to the Russian Federation for many years.
In the season 2011/12, Poland shipped to Russia almost 500,000 tonnes of apples that accounted for the share of 60% of the total export volume. At the same time, Polish exports to the EU countries were 8 times lower (67,000 tonnes).
Moreover, Poland has almost halved apple shipments to the EU over the past 5 years, while exports to Russia grew by 40% over the same period.
Source: www.fruit-inform.com, www.freshplaza.com