Agriculture, Latvia, Markets and Companies

The development brings to mind the situation a few years ago when Russia also closed its market. This is bad news for producers, as Poland exports enormous amounts of fruit and vegetables, par of which will now be "thrown" at the Baltic market, resulting in higher competition, said "Marupes siltumnicas" head Janis Berzins.

He also reminded that Europe had permitted import of vegetables from Ukraine. Taking into consideration the much lower requirements on the production of cabbages, onions and other vegetables in Ukraine, as well as on the use of pesticides, the quality of such products is lower than that of EU-produced vegetables. Berzins expects that vegetables from Ukraine will be sold labeled as Polish vegetables, as a result customers could buy genetically-modified or chemically-enriched products without even knowing. Everything depends on retailers' stand on the problem, said Berzins.

The Agricultural Market Promotion Center's head Inguna Gulbe also said that the greatest risk posed by influx of Polish vegetables is in that they can push local produce out of the market.

"They have to sell their vegetables fast, but Poles know how to haggle. It means that both sides will come to a solution that will be good to both chain stores and suppliers. Unfortunately, there is a high risk that, as a result, local producers, who are already having hard times competing with the cheaper products from Poland, will be forced out," believes Gulbe.

Inara Sure, the head of the Latvian Food Producers' Federation, said that the effect of Russia's decision was hard to predict, but part of Polish vegetables would clearly end up in Latvia.

"We, however, hope very much for the local consumers' loyalty and that they will prefer to buy Latvia-grown fruit and vegetables".

The Agriculture Ministry will hold a special expert meeting tomorrow to discuss the situation. Agriculture Minister Janis Duklavs will also participate in the meeting.