Ecuador evaluates response to Russia’s request to suspend banana exports

The government of Ecuador evaluates the response that will be given to the request for Russia to suspend five companies banana exportersa request that comes after the Ecuadorian Executive has delivered Russian military equipment to the United States in exchange for new equipment valued at about 200 million dollars.

“At this moment, meetings are being held at the highest level that allow us to take a position as a country,” sources from the Ministry of ProductionForeign Trade, Investment and Fisheries, one of the departments of the Government of Ecuador involved in this issue together with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock.

The argument used by the Russian phytosanitary inspection agency (Rosseljoznadzor) to temporarily suspend the banana export certificate of these five companies is the alleged presence of humpback flies in various shipments arriving in Russia.

The list of companies involves Agzulasa Cia, Don Carlos Fruit SA, Agroaereo Fruit Export SA, El Oro Agricultural Production Association (Asoproagroro) and Banana Marketer.

Last Friday, when this request was issued to the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock of Ecuador, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, María Zajárova, condemned the decision of the Ecuadorian president, Daniel Noboa, to deliver Russian military material to the United States for subsequent forwarded to Ukraine, described as “scrap” by the Ecuadorian president.

“If it were scrap metal, as they call it in Ecuador, it would be difficult for Washington to propose its exchange for modern equipment, certainly for a fairly high amount. We hope that Quito understands it that way,” said Zajárova.

Likewise, he recalled that all partners of the Russian military industry are aware that the contracts establish the obligation not to deliver said equipment to third parties without Moscow’s consent.

“Such a hasty decision was adopted by the Ecuadorian side under serious pressure from interested figures from abroad,” he said.

Noboa assured on January 30 that it was “scrap,” non-operational war material and never “war equipment.”

He Government of Ecuador has not detailed what type of material has been part of this delivery, made at a time when Noboa has declared the existence of an “internal armed conflict” against organized crime and has received assistance from the United States.

To carry out this cooperation, last week a delegation from the US Government led by President Joe Biden’s advisor for the Americas, Christopher Dodd, and the head of the Southern Command, Laura Richardson, visited Ecuador.

Ecuador is the world’s leading banana exporter, with more than 6.5 million tons in 2023, according to statistics from the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE).

Of that volume, Russia It constitutes the second destination market for Ecuadorian banana exports with 1.37 million tons in 2023, equivalent to 22.85% of the total, only surpassed by the European Union (EU).

The turnover of banana exports amounted to 3,255 million dollars between January and November 2023, of which 690 million dollars were for shipments to Russia, which has Ecuador as practically its only external supplier of bananas, representing 98%. of its imports of this fruit. (With information from EFE)