Environmental Violations Threaten Russian Potato Market

July 18, 2012  New York – Russia became a net exporter of potatoes in September – November 2011 for the first time in years, Fruit-Inform reported earlier this year. The key market for Russian potatoes is Azerbaijan, with smaller quantities also exported to Georgia (the country), Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia. However, this lucky break for Russian potato producers may be undermined by lax environmental standards and even laxer enforcement.

In a recent incident, crop dusting planes hired by Maxim Gorky LLC, a division of National Soil Company, a large potato producer, owned by Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev, have strayed over a residential community in Tula Region, which triggered a parliamentary inquiry, revealing a host of unsavory facts about the company and its business and environmental practices.

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