A group of angry greenhouse owners in the southern Armavir province demonstrated on Friday to demand that the Armenian government take urgent action over Russia's serious restrictions on the import of cut flowers from Armenia. They said that due to the restrictions imposed late last month flowers grown by them are no longer shipped to Russia, their principal market.
The Russian agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor first threatened to ban the rapidly growing Armenian flower imports on June 3. It said laboratory tests conducted by it have found an alarming increase in harmful "quarantined organisms." Armenia's Food Safety Inspectorate scrambled to address the Russian concerns but clearly failed to satisfy Rosselkhoznadzor.
"Despite the agreements reached on strengthening phytosanitary control by the Armenian side, the import of infected flowers of unknown origin into Russia was prevented in 20 cases in 2025," the Russian government agency said in a June 25 statement.
This testifies to the "inability of the Armenian side to ensure phytosanitary safety and traceability of flower products sent to Russia," it said, adding that some of those flowers are grown in third countries and do not conform to the Eurasian Economic Union's sanitary norms. The statement went on to announce that starting from June 27 only those Armenian exporters that can prove the origin of their flowers will be allowed to sell them in the vast Russian market.
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