Murcia farmers hit by Russian import ban

Lorries carrying Murcia produce to Russia have nowhere to go

The regional minister for Agriculture and Water, Antonio Cerdá, estimates that the decision by Russia to ban all food and agricultural imports from the EU could cost the Region of Murcia’s agriculture sector up to 120 million euros.
The decision was made in Moscow in retaliation to the sanctions against Russia imposed by EU member states related to the situation in Ukraine, and the government believes that “thousands” of small-scale farmers and 300 companies could be affected. Across Spain around a thousand million euros of export revenue could be lost, and Sr Cerdá has requested a meeting with national Minister Isabel García Tejerina to discuss the concerns of Murcia’s farmers.

Farmers in Murcia have been courting export contracts in Russia for the last ten years, and their greatest success has been through logistical platform groups in Holland and Poland. As well as direct exports, this trade also stands to be lost, and one of the first consequences of the veto is that numerous transport lorries are now stuck in western Europe without anywhere to deliver their cargoes, including several laden with Murcian melons. Their only solution appears to be to offload products in countries where there is already sufficient supply at reduced prices.

The farmers affected are now hoping that Sra García Tejerina will urge Brussels to bear in mind their plight in the same way that the EU has taken up the cause of those in need of humanitarian aid in the Ukraine.