Photo from Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol's Facebook page
MANILA -- The agricultural sector seems to be gaining from the various inter-country visitations of this administration, after an international company makes an arrangement to buy Philippine produce.
The Department of Agriculture sealed a deal with Monte Carlo-based Arteks Generation, a huge name in the agro-industrial business.
Monaco-based Igor Malyshkov, who represents Austria-registered Arteks Generation, called on Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol on Monday, to signify his group's interest in importing coconut products from the Philippines, including palm oil and pineapple, to be sold in some 5,000 outlets all over Eastern Europe.
BANEX Group, which was earlier identified as the company which will buy coconut and palm Oil, will only now be involved in the banana business.
Malyshkov said he will represent BANEX Group, a multinational agricultural corporation with offices in Moscow and Ecuador, in the banana business in the Philippines.
Malyshkov, who is visiting the Philippines for the first time, said the interest of BANEX Corporation and Arteks Generation in Philippine agricultural products was a result of the visit of President Rodrigo Duterte to Moscow, Russia in May 2017.
"This is a totally new area for us and we are going to be dealing with new and exciting products," Malyshkov said in an exclusive interview with ABS-CBN's Henry Omaga-Diaz on Monday.
In a statement posted on Facebook by Secretary Piñol, Malyshkov decided to visit the Philippines after weeks of negotiations between the agriculture secretary and intermediaries.
Malyshkov said the interest to import coconuts from the Philippines is due to the huge demand in the Eastern European market where consumers are becoming more health conscious.
"The market is huge and we have the infrastructure and network of over 5,000 outlets to distribute the products that we will source from the Philippines," he said.
On Tuesday, representatives of the Philippine Coconut Authority, a team from the banana and pineapple industry and the North Cotabato Palm Oil Corporation, will brief Malyshkov and his group on the business prospects in the Philippines.
He said the importation of coconut and palm oil will start immediately after supply agreements with local oil milling companies have been signed.
This development is expected to push up prices of coconut and palm oil, which have been very low in the last few months and save farmers from further hardships. (PNA)
