After Apple Spat, North Macedonia Eyes Bulgaria to Replace Russian Market

Pampulevski, like other apple growers in Debar, exports more than half his crop to Russia, but the Kremlin's war in Ukraine has sent relations with Skopje into a tailspin, and exporters are hurting.

Ljube Pampulevski and his family have been growing apples all his life. Photo: Ljube Pampulevski/private

A NATO member and candidate for European Union accession, North Macedonia has signed up in full to the Western sanctions slapped on Moscow and expelled 11 Russian diplomats. But Russia hit back in December with temporary restrictions on all plant products from North Macedonia, citing the discovery of a "highly dangerous" stink bug on imported apples.

There is growing alarm in landlocked North Macedonia about the potential impact on the agricultural sector, a mainstay of the country's economy.

"At the moment, apple growers who sell a large percentage of their product on the Russian market are severely affected by the temporary ban on imports of Macedonian products, specifically fresh fruit and vegetables," said Dejan Beshliev, executive director of the Macedonian-Russian Chamber of Commerce. 

"Keeping a market is painstaking work, and the Russian one is no exception. It is very complicated to replace in the short term."

Photo: Simona Srbinoska

Pampulevski, who is president of the Fruit Growers' Association 'Blagoj Kotlarovski', said that after Russia comes Bulgaria, the second biggest market for North Macedonia agriculture.

"The Bulgarian market is next on the list," he said. "They need apples, especially because their domestic production has decreased recently."

Indeed, trade between the two countries - otherwise at odds in a row over identity, language and Skopje's EU ambitions - has picked...