Banana prices in Russia have jumped more than 50 percent since mid-February due to last month's bankruptcy of the country's largest fruit importer, Joint Fruit Company (JFC), Kommersant business daily reported on Monday quoting market sources.
JFC filed for bankruptcy owing to volatility on the international market in 2011 caused by the unrest accompanying the "Arab Spring" in several Arab countries and disruptions in business relations, the bankruptcy of the company's foreign partners, loss of foreign markets and loan defaults.
The selling price for bananas offered by the JFC before the bankruptcy in February rose 51.6 percent to 51.87 rubles ($1.78) per kilo. France's Auchan retail chain spokeswoman Mariya Kurnosova told the paper that Russia's mid-sized fruit importers gave the chain advance notification of the price increases.
Russia, the fourth largest banana consumer in the world, imported 1.3 million tons of bananas in 2011, according to the Russia-based Institute for Agricultural Market Studies.
