European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos has announced that the first symbolic shipment of Armenian apricots successfully reached the European Union, marking a significant milestone in Armenia’s growing agricultural exports to the EU market.

“The first symbolic batch of Armenian apricots has arrived in the European Union. Thank you to Armenia’s Minister of Territorial Administration and Infrastructures, Davit Khudatyan, for the gift and for a very good discussion. We met ahead of tomorrow’s launch of the Connectivity Agenda Platform, where we will take forward our work to better connect Armenia with its neighbours and Europe. This will help Armenian producers diversify their exports and bring more of their high-quality products to new markets,” The Caspian Post reports via the European Commissioner's message on X.

Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision (Rosselkhoznadzor) has imposed a series of restrictions on agricultural imports from Armenia. Beginning on May 22, imports of Armenian flowers were banned. On May 30, temporary restrictions were introduced on the import of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, leafy greens, and strawberries from the country.

The measures were further expanded on June 2 to include stone fruits such as cherries, sweet cherries, apricots, plums, peaches, nectarines, as well as fresh grapes. A day later, on June 3, Russia also prohibited the import of pome fruits, eggplants, potatoes, and dried fruits from Armenia.

In addition, according to Rosselkhoznadzor, Armenia was required from June 2 to suspend the certification of live fish and fish products intended for export to the Russian market.