Russia meets own demand for cucumbers - Agriculture Ministry

MINERALNYE VODY. May 26 (Interfax) - Russian producers currently fully meet domestic market demand for cucumbers and are fulfilling export targets, Deputy Agriculture Minister Andrei Razin told reporters on the sidelines of the Caucasus Investment Forum on Monday.

"You should ask Polish farmers how they assess the situation. We are working, and our task is to meet our own needs and enter foreign markets," Razin said when asked about Russia's response to Polish farmers' request to ban imports of greenhouse vegetables from Russia due to high competition.

On Monday, the O2 portal, citing the head of the Polish Association of Greenhouse Tomato and Cucumber Producers, Lukasz Gwizdala, reported that Polish producers had called for a ban on imports of Russian cucumbers. Russia has become the country's main supplier of these vegetables, the outlet said. Cucumber imports to Poland reached a record 2.7 million euros in January 2025.

The association is negotiating with the Polish Agriculture Ministry and the Environment Ministry to address the issue. "Together, we have developed a position that a good solution would be to convince EU authorities to impose an embargo on cucumber imports from Russia and Belarus. A decision on this could be made within the next month or two. We are waiting for its implementation," Gwizdala said.

As reported, vegetable production (open and protected ground) in Russia in 2024 amounted to 13.93 million tonnes, compared to 13.844 million tonnes in 2023. In particular, the cucumber harvest increased to 1.71 million tonnes from 1.652 million tonnes in 2023, while tomato production rose to 3.261 million tonnes from 3.251 million tonnes, according to Rosstat data.