MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/. In 2023, Russia imported 2,800 tons of bananas from China, 4,800 tons from Korea, 29 tons from Egypt and 2 tons from Thailand and plans to increase supplies from these countries in the future, the Russian agricultural watchdog told TASS.

"In 2023, 2,800 tons of bananas were imported from China to Russia, 4,800 tons from Korea, 29 tons from Egypt, 2 tons from Thailand. The volume of banana supplies from these countries will increase," the regulator said.

In January 2024, India sent the first batch of bananas to Russia, and supplies from that country will also increase in the future. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), India is the world's largest banana producer, China is second and Indonesia is third.

In 2023, Russia did not import bananas from Indonesia in 2023, the regulator noted.

Earlier, the agricultural watchdog expressed concern about the situation with the supply of unsafe bananas from Ecuador to Russia. The service asked the country's competent agency to suspend, as of February 5, the certification of bananas from five Ecuadorian exporters who committed the largest number of violations.