Russia keen to import mangoes from Bangladesh: Envoy

The Russian ambassador in Dhaka has expressed interest in importing Bangladesh’s sweet and juicy mangoes as the king of fruits have demand in their country.

Ambassador Alexander Vikentyevich Mantytskiy conveyed his interest during a meeting with Agriculture Minister Dr Abdur Razzaque at his Secretariat office on Wednesday.

The envoy said “The mangoes of Bangladesh taste sweet and good quality and there is a huge possibility of exporting mango in Russia.”

Dr Abdur Razzaque expressed his willingness to import DAP and Potassium fertilizer from Russia through government to government processes.

“The farmers of the country have been asked to use DAP fertilizer as the government has decreased the price of fertilizers for 4th phase. Now per kg of DAP is being sold at Tk 16 which was Tk 90.”

“We want to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two countries,” he said.

The minister also requested the Russian Ambassador to re-think about importing potato from the country as the government has taken so many steps to keep the potato bacteria free and safe.

Russia has imposed a ban on importing potato from Bangladesh in 2014 due to the existence of brown rot in potato.

The ambassador said he would take steps to resume import potatoes from the country.

Razzaque hailed Russia as a true friend of Bangladesh saying Dhaka and Moscow have deep deep ties Bangladesh’s independence.