According to the ministry of agriculture of Moldova, tobacco exports to Russia have shrunk considerably over the past year, reports Ros Business Consulting news agency.

In 2005, 3.4 million kilos of leaf were shipped to Russian cigarette manufacturers, 28.4 per cent down from the 4.75 million kilos a year before. The value of tobacco export to Russia has dropped by 16.9 per cent. In May 2005, Russia imposed a ban on imports of all crops from Moldova on the grounds of reported negligence of the existing sanitary standards. The aggregate drop in Moldovan leaf exports in 2005 added up to 8.7 per cent. Apart from Russia, which is by far the largest importer of local tobacco leaf, Moldova also supplies raw tobacco to cigarette companies in Ukraine and other CIS countries. At the same time, Moldovan leaf growing has been on the decline for the past decades, the crop area shrinking from year to year. In 2005, just 5,300 hectares were sown with tobacco, whereas in 1986 the crop area ran up to 70,000 hectares. (vt)