By Constantinos Psillides
JOE Public doesn’t really care about politics on an international scale, no matter how many petitions he shares on Facebook. Out of sight is most certainly out of mind and the majority of us are usually more concerned with immediate problems and not whether Russia invaded Ukraine and annexed Crimea.
Usually.
Because in this case their problem became our problem. After the EU imposed further economic sanctions on Russia for its involvement in the Ukraine crisis, Russia retaliated by announcing that it would stop food from the EU, the US Australia, Canada and Norway for a full year.
In Cyprus the embargo largely affects citrus farmers, since out of the €13.5 million in Russian exports €10.7m relates to citrus fruits, specifically an exclusively Cyprus variation called the mandora. Mandoras are described as a cross between an orange and a mandarin, used by Russian businesses to produce juice.
Cypriot citrus farmers reacted to the embargo by asking the government to separate its position from the rest of the EU and ask Russia for exemption. While the government isn’t probably considering open rebellion against EU’s foreign policy – since the country is completely dependent on the troika of lenders, the European Commission and European Central Bank being two of those three, along with the IMF, Cyprus is leading the charge in assessing the embargo fallout.
The latest news is that the extraordinary Agriculture and Fisheries Council that will decide on measures regarding Russia`s ban on EU food products, will probably take place on September 5.
“We and other countries ask for this Council to take place the soonest possible,” said Agriculture Minister Nicos Kouyialis on Friday.
Time is not yet a factor in coming up with a solution, since according to the Cooperative Growers Marketing Union (SEDIGEP) head Andreas Christoforou citrus farmers don’t start picking their fruits till October. “That’s the grapefruit, orange and grapefruit producers, which makes up for 30 per cent of our citrus exports. Mandoras, our main product, are picked on January. If by then we don’t have a solution, this year is wasted,” Christoforou told the Sunday Mail.
Asked to comment on the government’s proclaimed attempt to find alternative markets, Christoforou laughed.
“Other markets? Where? On Mars? We exhausted every market there is. We even went to China. There are no other markets. Do we really think that other member states haven’t thought about that? Of course they did. And they are going to flood the markets with their products, forcing us to sell at ridiculous prices. Finding alternative markets isn’t an option. It’s the government’s wishful thinking.”
Christoforou estimates that around 2,500-2,000 families will be affected by the food embargo, losing their main – or perhaps only- source of income. “And Im not taking into consideration the 1,500 workers in packaging factories or the seasonal workers. It’s a domino effect and it will hurt us all in the end.”
Andreas Papaetis, 80, one of the biggest mandora farmers on the island, says that he just had about enough. “I planted every single one of my trees and if this goes on I will uproot them all myself,” said Papaetis, adding that in the last two years farmers were barely scraping by. “From the one hand we are plagued by the drought and now this comes along. The farming sector is in a tough spot and many of my fellow farmers are either uprooting their trees or dropping out of farming all together. If we lose the Russian market, it will be the end of us.”
Papaetis might blame the embargo but the state is not excluded from his angry rant either. “They don’t care. They simply do not care. The ministry should have suggested a new variation of fruit to grow by now so we can be ready when a restriction is put on mandoras. EU gave us seven years more of growing them. What happens after that? It takes around seven years to grow trees to a point that they bear enough enough fruit to sustain the business. The ministry does nothing on the matter when they should be scrambling for new ideas. Why on earth do we need an agricultural research institute if they don’t try and come up with new fruit variations?”
The citrus farmer lays the blame with what he describes as an extremely high cost of doing business. “We cannot be competitive when our operational cost is one of the highest in Europe. We have a very high cost of labour and we pay through the nose for fertilisers and other farming supplements. The government could step in and talk to the unions and the importers of fertiliser but as I already said, they don’t care.”
According to Papaetis, based on the collective agreements signed with packaging factory workers, each worker is paid a minimum of €89 per day. The work force in packaging factories is predominantly female.
Haridimos Papadopoulos, 62, another citrus farmer, is equally pessimistic. “Chaos is almost upon us. The Russian embargo is the last nail in the coffin,” said Papadopoulos, claiming that citrus fruit prices have gone downhill in the last years, with no end in sight.
“Labour costs are high, farming supplements are expensive and we are just trying to squeeze some profit out of this situation,” he lamented, claiming that Turkish Cypriot citrus farmers are burdened with only a quarter of the cost.
Farmers’ union EKA general secretary Panicos Hambas told the press last week that Turkish Cypriot farmers would seize the chance and re-label their products as Turkish and export them to Russia. A scenario Papadopoulos sees as definitely happening.
“We cannot compete with them. Not in the slightest. Not with such a high cost of business.”
Papadopoulos has also been considering dropping out of farming but he says that it isn’t easy, citing emotional attachment. “It’s not just about the money. Farming it’s a calling, a hobby. I love planting trees and watch them grow. Imagine planting a small tree, the size of a pencil. Imagine watering it, taking care of it and watch it grow to a beautiful tree that rewards you with its fruit. And now imagine an EU bureaucrat or an accountant coming up to you and say that the tree you took care of for so long is worthless and you must get rid of it. It’s not easy for us to do that,” said Papadopoulos, admitting that if push came to shove he would do so.
Papadopoulos demanded of the government to compensate the farmers if their products go to waste due to political decisions but admitted that taking care of the monetary issue was not the main concern.
“Let’s just say that we are fully compensated for this year. What will happen the year after that? And the year after that? How are we going to get back our share of the Russian market now that other countries are racing to fill the gap created by the embargo? If we lose the Russian market, citrus farming is done for.”
