In late February Russian authorities lifted restrictions on more than 10 Moldovan apple shippers who were given the chance to begin trials after being frozen out for several months; a significant experiment as historically Moldova has been one of the country's leading suppliers. Here, www.freshfruitportal.com speaks with the representative of one company who is thrilled to be starting shipments and re-establishing trade links with her closest and most profitable importer. 

When Russia first announced its apple embargo last July, Briceni-based Agrodenidan S.R.L. was hit har, grinding a long-standing export relationship to a halt.

Idared apple on tree. Photo: Poupou l'quourouce, via Wikimedia Commons.

"We collaborated with a Russian company for more than a decade before this embargo, having several contracts with them in different cities so we have been in an uncertain situation since the embargo," director Aliona Vornices told www.freshfruitportal.com.

"Around two weeks ago we were informed about restarting the export and were very surprised and happy that the export with Russia opened again. It seems like a sign from God.

"We don't know yet exactly what volumes will be exported, it will depend on requests about the quantity and variety, but we expect to export between 2,000 to 2,500 [metric] tons. Besides the quality we are offering, the Russian company we used to collaborate with before the embargo is very happy and they think it worthwhile to carry on working with them because generally we had no problems."

Russia's Federal Agency for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision (Rosselkhoznadzor) held talks with Moldovan officials to resume shipments, stressing the trials would be tightly monitored and subject to strict protocols. If standards are not met the imports will once again be banned.

Russia originally cited oriental fruit moth (Grapholita molesta Busck) detections as the reason behind introducing the ban which came ahead of the European-wide import embargo, although there was no suggestion any Agrodenidan shipments were contaminated.

"There are several GlobalG.A.P.-certified companies and we have the right to export; that means our production is of good quality. It also means that our employers work to a certain standard. We have very intensive orchards with nets.

"We have high quality fruit and we never cross the standard pesticide levels. If it is necessary to calibrate, sort, wash, or dry the apples we have done it and also we store the apples in the proper wooden boxes.

"We know we have lost some time with this embargo. We already have started a new season and we have to cover all the production aspects. We have orchards distributed around 100 hectares and this means high investment, so we are in a critical situation."

Agrodenidan's orchards are in the north of the country and it also has a refrigeration capacity for 4,000 metric tons (MT). This season's yields are looking good, although volumes are expected to be slightly lower than usual due to bad weather in October.

"We were exporting the Mutsu and Idared varieties but with the Idared we suffered a loss after having temperatures that we did not expect. It happens sometimes. We all depend on the weather. Usually we pick this variety late in the year as it is a very resistant one, it can actually resist to temperature of minus seven degrees.

"Even if restarting the export with Russia is limited to only one season we are still happy to restart it. We understand that this is an experiment for now, and the relationship might be affected if there is any falsification such as trying to export apples produced by other farms or not respecting the quality standard.

"But we are not worried about this aspect because for our exports the production is 100% our own; we grow the apples, we know the growing process, we know how they were deposited, we are responsible for our own production and we don’t want to risk or spoil our reputation."

Vornices says she will be working non-stop to ensure the safety and quality of her apple exports.

"At this moment we don't have time for debates - it's March and the trees are blossoming. We don't know how things will carry on. We will see after the export if Russia is happy or not. Before the embargo, they were happy and we had a good collaboration.

"I hope this relationship will remain and be fruitful in the future and to include not only the ten companies proposed now, but many more because somehow we are connected with each other on a human level."

 www.freshfruitportal.com