Twinned debt sufferers Greece, Argentina in tinned peach row

Greece and Argentina, sharing grief over debt woes nearly a decade apart, opened a row over tinned fruit Monday after Buenos Aires scrapped peach imports worth 2.4 million dollars (1.9 million euros).

Desperate for revenue in the middle of a national debt crisis, Athens told the Argentine ambassador that the order cancellation was a serious blow to struggling Greek producers and that the issue needed to be resolved quickly.

"In a period of crisis, the survival of producers is at stake," deputy Greek foreign minister Spyros Kouvelis told Argentine ambassador Jorge Alejandro Mastropietro, according to the foreign ministry.

"The Greek government expects gestures of support from a friendly state such as Argentina," the finance ministry said in a statement. "Such a gesture is in any case based on existing international accords and agreements."

Agricultural produce forms the backbone of Greek exports.

Athens is burdened by a debt mountain approaching 300 billion euros (372 billion dollars) and is battling to avoid a default nearly a decade after Argentina went through its own financial meltdown.

Greece recently averted default thanks to a 110-billion-euro loan extended by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, but at the cost of sharp austerity cuts which have caused a series of general strikes and protests.

Last month, Argentine President Cristina Kirchner said the turmoil gripping Greece parallels the upheaval Argentina went through days before its sovereign debt default nearly a decade ago.

In 2001, Argentina was beset by widespread protests and riots over austerity measures imposed by the IMF as Buenos Aires grappled with its own debt woes.

A debt default later declared by the government was the largest in history at some 90 billion dollars.