TBILISI, October 20 – Abkhazia has started shipping its new tangerine crop to Russia, marking the opening of this year’s citrus export season, according to Marina Zhupanova, spokesperson for the Sochi customs office, who spoke to Interfax on Monday.
Zhupanova said that the “tangerine season has opened on the Russia–Abkhazia border,” and that the first commercial shipments began arriving in Russia in late September. So far, Sochi customs officials have inspected 153 tons of tangerines, including about 50 tons delivered within the last 24 hours.
Because citrus fruits are perishable, customs clearance and inspection of such shipments receive priority processing at the Sochi checkpoint, she noted.
Along with tangerines, Abkhazia has exported 67 tons of feijoa, 3 tons of persimmons, 4.5 tons of lemons, and 22 tons of hazelnuts. In total, more than 250 tons of agricultural produce from the new harvest have crossed from Abkhazia into Russia this season.
Zhupanova said that this year’s early start for fruit and vegetable exports from Abkhazia was due to unusually warm weather. Last season, which ran from October 2024 through April 2025, Russia imported 36,000 tons of tangerines from the region. This year’s supply volume is expected to reach a similar level, though Abkhazia’s de facto agriculture ministry has forecast a slightly smaller harvest, or around 30,000 tons, 6,000 to 7,000 tons less than last year. The shortfall is attributed to heavy rain during the blossoming period, a sharp cold snap, and subsequent drought.
The current exports consist mainly of early-ripening tangerine varieties. As in previous years, nearly the entire tangerine harvest is shipped to Russia. Exports usually begin in October and continue until March, peaking in December during the New Year holiday season, when demand for citrus fruit in Russia is highest.
During the Soviet period, Abkhazia’s citrus industry covered about 11,000 hectares and produced as much as 120,000 tons annually. Today, citrus plantations cover roughly 2,900 hectares, yielding a maximum of about 50,000 to 52,000 tons in good years.
Russia also imports tangerines from Turkey, Morocco, China, and other countries, with Abkhazia’s fruit accounting for an estimated 3% to 7% of total imports, or roughly 20,000 to 60,000 tons a year.
