It was a dream for Farrukh Murodov and his older brother to open their own store in Kyiv to sell dried fruits and nuts brought from their hometown in Uzbekistan.
Born into a farming family in the Silk Road city of Samarkand, the second-largest city after Uzbekistan’s capital Tashkent, the two brothers grew up helping out in the fields as children. Their 10-hectare domain was an inheritance from their grandfather, who had worked the land since the 1930s.
When World War II broke out in 1939, the people of Uzbekistan, then part of the Soviet Union, made a huge contribution to the common victory over fascism. Of the 6.5 million people who lived in Uzbekistan at the time, 1.5 million joined the deadly fight.
Some 420,000 soldiers lost their lives and 640,000 left the battlefield with injuries. Murodov’s grandfather, who fought on the front line in modern-day Ukraine, was lucky enough to make it back home.
Having made friends in the Soviet territory that would one day become known as Ukraine, Murodov’s grandfather began to make routine visits, bringing homegrown products from Uzbekistan. The entire family would help him harvest crops and dry them, all by hand. And then he would take ready-to-eat products to other countries and sell them there.
Murodov’s father continued the practice of coming to Ukraine two to three times a year to sell products to wholesale vendors. After finishing college in 2003, Murodov and his brother also stepped in and began helping their father.
A few years had passed and their father let his sons carry the responsibility while still giving advice when needed.
“It’s a multigenerational family business,” the 31-year-old told the Kyiv Post.
Since their first visit to Ukraine, the brothers have been dropping off various products to retailers several times a year. Their business expanded quickly and eventually opened their first store on the sixth floor of TsUM Department in 2016.
Murodov, who runs Mindal (translated as almond) with his 37-year-old brother and 28-year-old cousin, is just one of the many Uzbeks selling dried fruits and nuts in Kyiv. Others haven’t been successful enough to open a store in a place like TsUM but they still supply fresh dried fruits and nuts to the locals. They have stalls at markets like Bessarabsky.
Most of the Uzbeks selling dried fruits and nuts in Ukraine have been here for a long time, according to Bobur Rasulov, a counselor on trade and economic issues at the Embassy of Uzbekistan in Ukraine. Some have been here for generations.
Farrukh Murodov (R) and his brother Fozil Murodov (L) pose for a photo in another shop that they own in Kyiv on June 15, 2021.
A family business
Much like in Ukraine, agriculture is an important part of the economy in Uzbekistan. The agricultural industry alone accounts for approximately 25.5% of Uzbekistan’s gross domestic product, employing about 27% of the labor force, the International Trade Administration reported in October 2020.
In 2020, the export value of fruits and nuts from Uzbekistan to other countries totaled $578 million, about 4 percent of the country’s total exports that year, according to TrendEconomy, a Bulgarian international trade database.
Dried fruits and raw products including apricots, apples and nuts are the most important organic goods exported from Uzbekistan, according to a report published by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Uzbekistan’s continental climate with its hot summers and cool winters is suitable for farming a rich assortment of vegetables and fruits. All the land used for agriculture in Uzbekistan is owned by the state, and there are three main types of lease-holders: farm enterprises, dekhan farms (households) and agricultural firms.
Family farms, locally known as “dekhan farms,” are the biggest producers of dried fruits and nuts exported abroad, according to Rasulov. In Uzbekistan, agriculture is “mostly family businesses,” he said.
Rasulov said that the way Murodov’s family runs a business, where the entire family works on the field and chosen family members sell the produced crops abroad is common in Uzbekistan.
Operating a farm is a lot of work. Murodov said there are thousands of fruit trees from red grapes, apricots to almonds, so “we ask all our relatives to come help” especially during the harvest season. Even in winter, the fields need to be irrigated well and someone needs to be there to cover the ground with a sheet to protect it from snow.
“It was passed down from our grandfather,” he said.
Weak exports to Ukraine
Uzbekistan is a major global exporter of dried apricots and raisins.
In 2019, the central Asian country became the second-largest exporter of dried apricots by volume after Turkey, according to a statistical yearbook published by the International Nut and Dried Fruit Council.
Nevertheless, Uzbekistan still exports significantly less than Turkey, Andriy Yarmak, an economist for the Investment Center of the FAO, said.
While Turkey exported 100,162 tons of dried apricots in 2019 (about 72% of the global share), Uzbekistan only exported 9,034 tons (about 7%).
Yarmak said that trade with Ukraine follows the same pattern. Uzbekistan is the second largest supplier of dried apricots to Ukraine but Turkey’s share is a lot higher.
And even though Uzbekistan is also the fourth largest exporter of raisins in the world and the second-biggest supplier to Ukraine after Iran, the food trade between the two countries is still small. Uzbekistan is not even among the top 60 countries supplying agricultural products to Ukraine, Yarmak added, with Uzbekistan’s exports of dried fruits concentrated in a few markets, notably in Russia and China.
But these exports are expected to grow among health-conscious consumers. “They contain a lot of vitamins and are good for health,” Murodov said.
Little Uzbekistan in Kyiv
In downtown Kyiv’s central department store — or TsUM — on Kreshchatyk Street, there is a “little Uzbekistan.”
Lined up with Egersund, which sells fresh Norwegian seafood, and the cafe-confectionary Honey, a narrow shop sells dried fruits, nuts, candies and Middle East sweets like baklava and halva.
Murodov also sells products like cashews and macadamia nuts from other countries. Those with a sweet tooth can also find various types of chocolate as well. Murodov envisioned Mindal to be a place where people can sample products served on an Uzbek plate with a cup of tea.
Only the best quality products are sold at the shop in TsUM. Muradov, who is living his dream, is hoping to expand the business.
“The best moment is to see customers enjoying our products,” he said.
Aside from home-grown dried fruits and nuts, the Murodov family also sells a wide range of Uzbek products. The Murodov brothers set up his little corner shop as a “little Uzbekistan” where people can enjoy the brothers’ products with a traditional cup of tea. (Courtesy of Mindal)
