Sales of imported fresh fruit on the Russian market have not been as badly affected by the economic crisis as other goods have, according to a new report from leading Russian financial analyst Uralsib Capital.
However, Russians have continued to buy similar volumes of less expensive fruits such as apples and bananas, while opting to spend less on exotic produce, the report said.
St Petersburg-based daily newspaper Fontanka quoted the analyst as saying that, since the beginning of the current financial downturn, total imports into Russia have fallen by 40.9 per cent.
In contrast, during the same period, fresh fruit imports into the country reportedly fell by just 6.1 per cent, coinciding with a comparable fall in consumer spending power.
During the first four months of 2009, the amount of imported citrus sold in Russia as a proportion of total fresh fruit imports increased from 25 per cent to 34 per cent.
Apple imports, meanwhile, rose from 21 per cent to 30 per cent of the total imported volume, and banana import volumes remained stable at around 20 per cent of the overall figure.
Other fruits, including mangoes and avocados, accounted for just 15 per cent of the total market during the period January to April, in contrast to 30 per cent prior to the financial crisis.
