Russia is not considering easing its food embargo against countries which support sanctions against Russia, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said in an interview with Interfax.
“We are not considering any easing of the embargo. We are focusing exclusively on the interests of our own producers without harming our market,” he said, adding that “we introduced the embargo on those goods which we believed we could provide ourselves or replace with comparable products from countries which did not support sanctions.”
He said that fruits and vegetables were currently being supplied from Egypt, Morocco, Iran and other countries not subject to the food embargo.
Russia’s food embargo has been in place since August 7, 2014, banning products from the United States, the European Union, Australia, Norway and Canada. Albania, Montenegro, Iceland and Lichtenstein fell under the food embargo on August 13, 2015 after supporting sanctions against Russia. Since January 1, 2016 Ukraine has also been included.
Initially the ban was to last one year. In 2015 it was extended to August 5, 2016 and in June 2016 it was extended to the end of 2017.
The food embargo bans meat and meat products, milk and dairy products, fish and fish products, fruits and vegetables from entering Russia. Since November 1, 2016 the food embargo includes salt as well.
