Banana Mafia Becomes Impudent

According to the State Customs Committee (SCC), in 2014 Azerbaijan imported 7,630.2 tons of bananas from Ecuador. In comparison with 2013 year the legal imports decreased by 14.8%, while no deficit is observed in the consumer market.

Azerbaijan imports of bananas and other tropical and subtropical fruits are a monopoly of the company Alliance Trans. Bulk sales are dealt with by the Meyveli trading base in Baku, which belongs to the same group reportedly controlled by General Baylar Eyyubov.

Four years ago, in 2010, at the customs in Azerbaijan there was "explosion of numbers" and there was declared 19 241.8 tons of bananas. Recall that the country's antitrust agency under the Ministry of Economy and Industry never checks the antimonopoly legislation on the market of bananas, which is actually controlled by the same company.

In 2014 bananas were registered at the Azerbaijani customs at $ 0.916 per 1 kg. These prices persist for many years. In the retail market bananas are sold at a price not less than 2 manat ($ 2.6 before the devaluation of the manat - Ed.)

Bananas are one of the most vivid samples confirming the presence of a monopoly on the import of certain goods and dictate of prices at the discretion of mafias who control the market. The state represented by the Antimonopoly Service and Consumer Protection never opened prosecutions for the violation.

According to statistics, in 2014 the consumption of bananas per capita in Azerbaijan has decreased from 950 g to 800 g. In Russia the index was more than 8 kg, in Turkey - 3 kg and in Iran - about 5 kg.

Note that in the neighboring Georgia with a population two times less than in our country, banana imports in value terms increased by 9.6% to $ 20,067,000.

According to international reports (of the Food and Agriculture Organization), Azerbaijan is among the countries where the consumption of bananas per capita is at least 1.7 kg per year. Thus, the importer collusion with customs leads to an underestimation of the real volume of banana shipments to Azerbaijan by approximately two times. --08B-