OREANDA-NEWS  According to the results of the first five months of 2025, Russia turned out to be the main importer of lemons from Uzbekistan. This is reported by RIA Novosti with reference to data from the National Committee on Statistics of the Central Asian Republic.

During the reporting period, a total of 1,051 thousand tons of these citrus fruits were shipped to Russia. The Russian Federation accounted for 60.4 percent of all Uzbek lemon exports. The top 3 importers also include Kazakhstan (603 tons) and Kyrgyzstan (81 tons). In total, 1,740 tons of lemons were shipped from this republic to foreign buyers in January-May. Compared to the same period last year, the figure increased by 4.6 percent, or 77 tons. The export value was 2.8 million dollars.

A sharp increase in lemon imports from Uzbekistan to Russia is taking place against the background of a rapid decline in the supply of this type of citrus from Turkey. So, in April 2025, shipments from this Mediterranean country to the Russian Federation fell to a five-year low and amounted to 5.6 thousand tons. Against this background, some experts warned of a possible increase in prices for these fruits in Russia.

The head of the Turkish Ministry of Trade, Omer Bolat, explained this trend by the consequences of large-scale frosts in the provinces of Mersin, Adana and Hatay in the south of the state. Against this background, the local authorities decided to suspend the export of lemons from May 15. Despite this, in the first four months of this year, Turkey was able to retain its status as an important supplier of lemons to the Russian market. The suspension of exports from this country, noted Mikhail Belyaev, PhD in Economics, should not lead to a shortage in the Russian Federation, since it is possible to establish imports from alternative exporting countries, including from Central Asian states.