What started as a protest against the Ukrainian government's decision to abandon the EU Association Agreement in favour of closer ties with Russia has escalated immeasurably since the end of November.
Bloody violence has erupted between police and protesters in Kiev, with many left dead or wounded, Russia-backed president Viktor Yanukovych has been ousted and, this week, Russian troops have entered the Crimean Peninsula.
But despite the chaos, business is continuing 'as normal' in the fresh fruit and vegetable sector, according to Vitaliy Pervichko, wholesale sales manager at Krasnogvardeysk-basedKrymia, the Crimean Fruit Company.
'Everything is good at the moment,' he told Eurofruit. 'Business is normal and sales are going well. We don't expect to see any problems in terms of transportation in the near future.'
However, with some analysts predicting Ukraine's eventual division, between the more European-influenced west and the Russian-speaking east, it is unforeseeable how long the sector can remain completely unaffected.
