Russia has told Iran to stop supplying it with cut flowers, saying that they were most probably grown in neighboring Armenia and cannot be sold in the Russian market due to Moscow’s sanctions against Yerevan.
In what may have been a related development, the Rosselkhoznadzor agricultural watchdog has also banned five Turkish companies from exporting fruits to Russia.
“In 2026, the volume of [flower] imports from the Islamic Republic significantly exceeded that of the same period last year,” the Russian government agency said in a statement on Friday. “Phytosanitary certificates list Iran as the origin of the products. However, in terms of their external characteristics and packaging, they are identical to those previously imported from Armenia.”
It said it has therefore asked the Iranian Agriculture Ministry to stop issuing export licenses to local flower companies “until bilateral negotiations are held and the issue is clarified.” Photographs attached to the statement showed Rosselkhoznadzor officials inspecting flowers shipped from Iran by an Azerbaijani truck.
Armenia’s flower industry has expanded rapidly in the past decade on the back of exports that reached $53 million last year. Russia absorbed over 85 percent of those exports. Most of the 700 or so flower greenhouses operating in the South Caucasus country have therefore been hit hard by the Russian trade restrictions.
On Thursday. Rosselkhoznadzor announced a ban on apricots, cherries and other fruits imported by five Turkish firms, alleging a “systematic detection” of dangerous pests in them. The watchdog did not openly voice suspicions about their Armenian origin.
The ban came during the peak period of cherry and apricot harvesting in Armenia. Many local farmers growing these fruits complain that their price has fallen significantly due to the Russian sanctions. According to unconfirmed Armenian press reports, Turkish and Georgian firms have re-exported Armenian apricots and cherries to Russia in recent weeks.
Citing sanitary grounds, the Russian authorities essentially blocked in late May and early June multimillion-dollar imports of Armenian fruits, vegetables, mineral water, flowers, fish and some alcoholic beverages. Moscow imposed the sanctions amid its growing warnings about the economic cost of Armenia’s deepening ties with the European Union. It has been pressing Yerevan to quickly choose between continuing to seek EU membership and remaining part of a Russian-led economic bloc vital for the Armenian economy.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian ruled out any change in his pro-Western foreign policy after his disputed victory in the June 7 parliamentary elections. He claimed to have reached unspecified “understandings” with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin during their July 6 meeting held on the sidelines of an international trade exhibition in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg. Moscow has not reversed or eased any of its sanctions since then.
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