Polish agriculturers demand Russian cucumber prohibition
(MENAFN) Polish cucumber producers are urging the government to impose a ban on Russian imports, claiming unfair competition due to Russia’s lower production costs. According to local media and Eurostat data, Russia became Poland’s top cucumber supplier in March 2025, with import volumes hitting a four-year high.
Lukasz Gwizdala, operations director of the Polish Association of Tomato and Cucumber Producers, said the influx of Russian cucumbers has severely disrupted the domestic market. Polish growers argue that Russian producers benefit from access to cheaper energy, which drastically lowers their greenhouse operation costs.
In March, over 2,000 tons of Russian cucumbers—valued at €2.7 million—were imported into Poland, more than doubling February’s figure and marking a 25% increase from March 2024. Russia accounted for 83% of Poland’s cucumber imports that month, making Poland the EU’s largest importer of the vegetable from Russia.
Gwizdala emphasized that Polish farmers struggle to compete due to rising energy prices, driven by EU sanctions on Russian energy since 2022. These sanctions have significantly impacted fuel-intensive sectors like greenhouse agriculture.
The association is now lobbying the Polish agriculture and environment ministries for an EU-wide embargo on cucumber and tomato imports from Russia and Belarus, with a decision expected in the coming months.
Russian officials have acknowledged their competitive advantage. Last year, Sergey Dankvert, head of agricultural regulator Rosselkhoznadzor, noted that low gas prices give Russian greenhouse products a pricing edge over their EU counterparts, warning that costly American LNG would further erode European market competitiveness.
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