EU to buy up vegetable, fruit stocks hit by Russian import ban

The European Union plans to buy up stocks of fruit and vegetables hit by a Russian ban on the bloc's agricultural products, EU Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos announced Thursday.
EU member states were struggling in particular to sell tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, peppers and cauliflower, a spokesman for Ciolos said after a meeting of EU agriculture experts in Brussels.
Details of the planned measures are to be announced early next week, German Press Agency dpa reported.
The European Commission had previously announced plans to buy up peaches and nectarines, blaming the poor market conditions on bad weather, as well as the Russian import ban.
EU agriculture ministers are due to discuss the Russian ban - imposed in response to EU sanctions on Moscow - at an extraordinary meeting on September 8, sources in Brussels said.