Azerbaijan sees abundance of agriculture products in domestic markets

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Azerbaijan's rich markets of agriculture products are attractive for their organic vegetables and fruits. Fall is a special season in the country as the markets see plenty of types of exotic fruits, which were traditionally exported.

Azerbaijan is now increasing its exports to the Russian markets with a wide variety of agricultural products. The country aims to own more share in its northern neighbor's markets after the economic sanctions imposed by the west worsened Russia's relations with the Western exporters.

Azerbaijan's decision to increase its exports to Russia has led to a panic among the population. Most residents claimed that there will be a lack of agricultural goods in the domestic markets. Nevertheless, the official report has put an end to the confusions.

"Azerbaijan is not observing a deficit of agricultural products resulted from the increase of exports to Russian markets," Agriculture Minister Heydar Asadov said.

He noted that there is an abundance of agricultural products in the country. "The Ministry holds talks with several companies to open additional fair in the regions, as it is impossible to bring all the produce to the current fairs."

Russia has banned the import of agricultural products from the U.S., the EU countries, Canada, Australia and Norway for a year as a response to the economic sanctions. It subsequently drove out the western exporters from Russian markets. Now the northern giant announced its markets are open to other countries, including Azerbaijan.

Now local exporters view it as a chance to strengthen their position in Russian markets and expand bilateral ties.

"Azerbaijan and Russia have held intensive talks on the establishment of joint ventures, construction of logistics centers, as well as discussion on the leasing of the piece of land in Azerbaijan for agricultural production. The final decision is yet to be made," Asadov said.

The reported increase of Russian exports triggered some news on price hike of agricultural products in Azerbaijan's domestic markets. However, Asadov dispersed the reports, saying the price hike is seasonal in the country. Rise of the prices is mostly observed for tomato, beans and cabbage.

"The cost of production facilities and fertilizers, which are used for agricultural production, is increasing year by year. Thus, the rise of prices is inevitable to prevent the price disparity," Asadov noted

He said it was necessary to simultaneously consider the interests of agricultural producers and trends in the world economy due to their possible influence on the price hike. "That's why I think the current rise of prices on domestic markets is reasonable." Asadov added.

Agriculture is one of the traditional production sectors in Azerbaijan. It plays an important role in terms of Gross Domestic Product in the country. Azerbaijan has great potential to produce traditional agricultural products. Advanced infrastructure, favorable climatic condition, continuous state care turned the agriculture into one of the major non-oil production sectors in Azerbaijan. The two major production fields - crops and livestock - are well developed in the country. Cereals, cotton, vegetables, potatoes, fruit, viticulture, tobacco prevail in crop production, while livestock production is mostly characterized by cattle, sheep, horse, camel and poultry husbandry.

The State Statistics Committee reported that the volume of agricultural production in January-February was more than $4.6 million at current prices. The trade turnover was over $1,2 billion between Azerbaijan and Russia during the same period. Azerbaijan imported the Russian products worth of $791 million, while the exports to Russia was calculated at nearly $429 million.

/AzerNews/