Komemrsant quoted Aslan Panesh, head of the Russian company Adyg-Yurak, as saying that his company is currently negotiating the sale of Syrian fruit and vegetables to an array of Russian food retailers, such as Magnit and Pyatyorochka.
"Poor quality packaging remains the main problem which currently prevents Syrian fruit and vegetables from being supplied to Russia on a permanent basis," he said.
At the same time, he assured that Syria is due to begin the production of modern packaging material before the end of this year.
"This will allow us to import between 3,000 and 5,000 [metric] tons of Syrian fruit and vegetables per week," Panesh said.
According to Panesh, the second batch of such Syrian products, including about 3,000 tons of oranges, lemons, grapefruit, tomatoes and cabbage, was delivered to the Russian port of Novorossiysk last week.
In 2015, Panesh said, the Syrians expressed their readiness to begin shipping to Russia, but until recently they had only been delivered on a trial basis.
In accordance with the sanctions, Russia banned the import of Turkish fruits and vegetables, poultry and salt.
In January, Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Mehmet Simsek said that the country will lose 3.1 billion dollars worth of trade in 2016 due to Russian economic sanctions.
