Russian Fruit Market

JFC directors and CEO Mr Kekhman are summoned for contempt

Written by

On Friday 9 March 2012, the Admiralty and Commercial Court in London held a review hearing in respect of reefer ship operators STAR Reefers’ worldwide freezing order against the major Russian fruit importer JFC.

The Judge, Mr Edelman QC,  held that there were good grounds for continuing the worldwide freezing order against JFC, freezing JFC’s assets wherever they may be in the world. The Order also requires JFC to give prior notification of all business transactions in excess of USD$25,000 and to provide an updated schedule of its worldwide assets by 16 March 2012. JFC were ordered to pay STAR’s legal costs totalling GBP£175,000.

Crucially, the Judge found that there was a good arguable case that there had been serious breaches of the worldwide freezing order by JFC and good arguable case that the seven named directors/officers had willfully disobeyed the Court’s previous Order. He therefore granted permission to serve the contempt of court proceedings on the named directors/officers.

Source: www.freshplaza.com

Russia first non-EEA market for EU producers

Written by

Fruit and vegetables exports from the EU to Russia, from January to November 2011, were around 2.35 million tons, representing an increase of 16% regarding the same period of 2010, consolidating Russia as the first non-EEA market for fruit and vegetable producers in the EU, according to FEPEX. In the analyzed period, Russia represented 39% of the total exported by EU to countries outside the Union.

Of the 2.35 million tons of fruit and vegetables exported by communitarian producers to Russia, between January and November 2011, that are the latest updated info from Eurostat – a total of 1.15 million tons correspond to vegetables and 1.20 million tons corresponds to fruit. The main exported vegetable is potato, with 596,671 tons, followed by onion with 124,658 tons. The main exported fruit is the apple with 465,550 tons, followed by pears, with 224,019 tons.

Inside EU, the Netherlands, Poland, Lithuania, Belgium and Spain are the main exporters of fruit and vegetables to Russia.

Source: www.freshplaza.com

Joint Fruit Company ‘will return to market’

Written by

Bankrupt Russian banana importer Joint Fruit Company (JFC) will “be back on the market” after taking time out to “recover” from its current financial difficulties, a source close to the group has claimed.

Speaking to Eurofruit Magazine, Dmitry Gerasimov, lead import manager from J Fresh, an importer established by JFC in 2011, claimed that the company would not stop supplying bananas to the Russian market, despite filing for bankruptcy. The company  trying to get some time to talk to their creditors and the bank.

He said: “I think JFC should be back, but I think they need to take a deep breath before they can return,” he added. “They just need some time to recover before they will be back on the market.” 

Source: www.fruitnet.com

Russia’s largest fruit importer declared bankrupt

Written by

The Joint Fruit Company, JFC, – Russia’s largest importer of fruits, has filed for bankruptcy. The situation has come about as a result of the Arab Spring.

An official from the company said that the company had made losses as the events in the Middle East and North Africa had disrupted business relationships, caused loan defaults and lead to the bankruptcy of some of the organisation’s foreign partners.

A source close to the JFC co-owner told the Vedomosti business daily that JFC Head Vladimir Kekhman filed the company’s bankruptcy in case the firm would not be able to restructure its loans.

Established in St. Petersburg in 1994, the JFC Group is the international network that manufactures ships and distributes fruits. It owns about 3,000 hectares of banana plantations in Ecuador and Costa-Rica.

Source: www.freshplaza.com

Up to 70% of harvest lost as billions of rubles damage caused by cold

Written by

Russian agricultural officials are expecting adverse effects on this year’s harvest after weather colder than usual.

For example, in Saratov Kray, which has experienced temperatures as low as -35°C, only half the grapevines are protected by earthen barriers.

In Krasnodar Kray, located on the Black and Azov seas, temperatures have dropped in some places to -31°C and have been accompanied by strong winds. 10-30% harvest reduction is expected as a result.

In Astrakhan, north of the Caspian Sea, officials say as much as 70% of fruit from orchards may be lost this year.

Russian agricultural officials concede there will be substantial damage to this year’s fruit crop. They said damage to fruits such as strawberries that grow low to the ground will be minimal and that orchards in northern areas of Russia would not be affected, since they grow in areas where temperatures of -30°C or -35°C are common.

Source: www.freshplaza.com

The Federal Purchasing Alliance to increase direct import of fruit and vegetables.

Written by

The Federal Purchasing Alliance JSC “System “Т3С” announced that the direct import program of fruit and vegetables from the foreign suppliers, which was launched in June 2011, allowed to increase the turnover volume by 117% for 7 months. As of today 33 out of 40 retail chains – members of The Federal Purchasing Alliance take part in the program. Decrease of the purchasing price for retail chains (in comparison to the local distributors) is 12% to 90% (depending on local market conditions). The Federal Purchasing Alliance cooperates with suppliers from Serbia, Poland, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands.

In 2012 the Alliance is planning to expand the range of directly imported goods and engage new retailers. The company will be importing all top fruit and vegetables from Poland, Serbia, Italy, Germany, Spain, Turkey, Holland, Israel and Egypt.

Source: www.retail.ru

Frosts hit fruit and vegetable trade in Russia and Ukraine

Written by

Significant fall of temperature caused delays in deliveries of fruits and vegetables to Russian and Ukrainian retail chains. Trade in outdoor markets is almost fully paralyzed.

Supermarkets’ fruit and vegetable managers reported to Fruit-Inform of serious stoppages in deliveries of fruits and vegetables as well as of higher rejects percentage in lots due to produce having been damaged by frosts during transportation.

For the present, disruption of trade has not led to any price imbalance in the market. Nevertheless, some representatives of supermarket chains think that produce prices may grow by 5-10% by early February. However, managers are sure that even if an increase in prices is registered, produce will be growing in price only for a short period of time. When a thaw sets in, the supply of vegetables will increase, and prices will sink again.

Source: www.freshplaza.com

Russia expected to import more citrus from FSU countries in 2012

Written by

According to www.rg.ru, Russia imported about 1.4 million tonnes of citrus fruits last year that is almost 10% higher year-on-year. The share of FSU countries (former Soviet republics) in Russia’s total citrus imports decreased to 10% in 2011, while a year earlier their share amounted to 14%. The experts say that last season’s climatic peculiarities caused a reduction of Russia’s citrus imports from Abkhazia, Azerbaijan and Central Asia; however, the situation will cardinally change in 2012.

Georgian produce will be exported by 4 companies. Russia’s total citrus imports from Georgia may reach 55,000 tonnes per annum (mandarins will account for up to 65% of them, lemons – for 20%). Georgian authorities plan to hold talks on export recommencement with Gennadiy Onishchenko, Chief Sanitary Officer of Russia.

In the meantime, Abkhazia almost halved its citrus exports to the Russian Federation to about 8,000 tonnes (80% – mandarins) in 2011. A sharp decrease in exports was caused by low citrus production in the country. In 2012, Abkhazia plans to export no less than 10,000 tonnes of citrus fruits to Russia.

Azerbaijan expects to increase its citrus exports to the Russian Federation by more than 30% to 14-16 thousand tonnes this year.

Source: www.lol.org.ua

Morocco wants to export more citrus to Russia

Written by

Russia imports more than 8.5 million tonnes of fruit and vegetables annually. Of this, less than 4% is from Morocco. Although the Moroccan export figures show a rise in fruit and vegetable export, the export is only 3.6% of the market share. Citrus is the most important product with 92% of the market share.

But there are new perspectives for the Moroccan export to Russia. Recently a Russian delegation visited Morocco to view the route the citrus follows and mainly to view the phyto-sanitary checks.

Morocco does have a checking system, that has been approved by the EVO. But Russia has not yet recognized this and has therefore been invited to see the checking system on the site. According to the national bureau for food safety the delegation was visibly surprised by the level of the system. However the definitive publication report of the Russian delegation remains to be seen.

Source: www.freshplaza.com