RUSSIA-CRISIS/NETHERLANDS-FLOWERS Flower war marks new low in relations between Russia and the Netherlands

Record ID: 144309

  • Title: RUSSIA-CRISIS/NETHERLANDS-FLOWERS Flower war marks new low in relations between Russia and the Netherlands
  • Date: 12th August 2015
  • Summary: AALSMEER, THE NETHERLANDS (FILE - 2015) (REUTERS) FLOWER AUCTION HALL FLOWER AUCTION SCREEN AUCTIONEERS AT WORK FLOWERS ON SALE ROTATING VARIOUS OF FLOWER AUCTION
  • Embargoed: 27th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA47DSEISDVOU7PIIN6AOLVMURI
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: A week after angering many in Russia by burning illegally imported Western food, authorities have started feeding Dutch flowers to the flames.
    Officials say blooms from the Netherlands, which supplies much of Russia's $2.5 billion flower market, pose safety risks because they may be infected with bugs not recognised as dangerous by the European Union.
    Critics say the "flower war" marks a new low in relations with the West and is Moscow's retaliation for a Dutch investigation into the downing of a Malaysian airliner over rebel-held east Ukraine in July last year.
    Following the downing of the plane, the West imposed sanctions on Russia. Moscow retaliated by imposing a ban on most Western food imports, which backfired by spurring inflation.
    Ordinary Russians, already struggling with unemployment and inflation, can expect higher flower prices in the next few weeks when demand soars as children returning to school traditionally give flowers to their teachers.
    Russian authorities are now considering a ban on flowers from the Netherlands, which sends up to 5 percent of its flower sales to Russia.
    Robert Roodenburg of the Association of Wholesale Floricultural Products, who negotiates on behalf of Dutch producers, said Russian importers are first to lose money, if flowers deteriorate in the truck due to hold-up at the border.
    "It's a fresh product, so the moment they can't travel, they deteriorate, and after a couple of days you can throw them away. So that is really a damage. And the next thing of course is that the owner of the products, which is in that case a Russian importer, he lost his money, because it's a value of about 20,000 to 30,000 euros in each truck of flowers," he said on Tuesday (August 11).
    Russia mostly imports roses, chrysanthemums and tulips with foreign supplies accounting for more than 80 percent of overall sales, one third of which come from the Netherlands, mostly through the world's biggest flower auction hall in Aalsmeer, small town on the outskirts of Amsterdam.
    Analysts think prices could jump by over 50 percent if an import ban is imposed, although Russian growers and exporters in Kenya, Ecuador, Colombia and Israel could benefit.
    Roodenburg says Dutch flower exports to Russia were expected to be worth 120 million euros in 2015 but other estimates put the figure higher due to black market trades.
    "This year, if the situation would be normal, we expected about 120 million euros for flower sales, so if that's in jeopardy, then we have a problem," he said.
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