Greenhouse cucumbers from Russia are massively entering the Polish market, causing concern among control authorities and agricultural associations, reports EastFruit.
This concerns not only import volumes, but also the possibility of re-exporting products to other EU countries while concealing their true origin.
According to Eurostat data, in January 2025, total agricultural exports from Russia to the EU decreased by 79% compared to the same period in 2024. However, this doesn’t apply to all categories — specifically, fresh cucumber exports from Russia surged sharply in spring of 2025, reaching the highest levels in the past four years.
Read also: Latvia extends ban on fresh produce imports from Russia and Belarus for another year
In March 2025, Polish companies purchased 2,100 tons of Russian cucumbers worth 2.7 million euros — this is 2.5 times more than in February, according to GrowHow. During the month, Poland imported cucumbers worth 3.25 million euros, of which 83% came from Russia. Other supplier countries were Turkey, Belarus, and Ukraine. Poland became the largest importer of Russian cucumbers among EU countries.
Against the backdrop of this influx, Poland’s Food Quality Inspection (IJHARS) has strengthened controls. In the first quarter of 2025, 125 batches of fresh cucumbers from Russia were inspected, with a total weight of over 2,000 tons. All batches met legislative requirements at the time of inspection, however, several violations in country-of-origin labeling were identified.
Among the violations found were: absence of country-of-origin indication in documents or indication of a different country, as well as selling cucumbers in large volumes without information about their origin. These actions may facilitate substitution of the country of production and constitute a violation of legislation.
Notably, Polish farmers have repeatedly staged protests against Ukrainian agricultural imports—despite Ukraine defending Europe against Russian aggression—yet have remained silent on the surge in Russian produce entering their market.
The use of the site materials is free if there is a direct and open for search engines hyperlink to a specific publication of the East-Fruit.com website.
