Russia turns to India to import bananas

Russia has begun purchasing bananas from India, with plans to increase these imports, as announced by its food safety agency Rosselkhoznadzor. The first batch of bananas from India already arrived in Russia in January, and an additional shipment is expected at the end of February. Rosselkhoznadzor indicated that "the volume of exports of Indian bananas to the Russian market will increase." The trade relationship between Russia and Ecuador was strained after Rosselkhoznadzor suspended imports of bananas from five Ecuadorian companies last week, citing the detection of pests in the products. However, Ecuador's food safety agency disputed these findings, arguing that only 0.3% of banana shipments to Russia contained insects, and that these did not represent a significant risk. This trade tension arises in the context of an agreement in which Ecuador agreed to deliver Russian-made military equipment to the United States, in exchange for US military equipment worth $200 million. The ...