TEMPO.CO, Moscow - Russia has retaliated against sanctions imposed by the United States and European Union by banning fruit imports from Poland and juice imports from Ukraine.
"Ukrainian juice products had not undergone state registration for compliance with the technical regulations of the Customs Union," said Russia's consumer protection watchdog Rospotrebnadzor. The ban has been effectively put in place since July 29 to protect consumer rights.
Last Wednesday, the EU and the US imposed more sanctions on Russia in relation to the Ukraine's crisis. The West accused Russia of backing separatist movement in Ukraine with arms and training. The sanctions target arms, energy and financial sectors and restrict sales of oil drilling equipment and Russian banks's access to the West's capital markets. The EU also included names of Putin's allies in the sanctions list.
Russia responded by announcing ban of fruit and vegetable imports from Poland that may be expanded to other European countries.
Russia's Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Service (VPSS) will restrict most fruit and vegetable imports from Poland starting from August 1 due to "violation of certification and the identification of quarantine products," as said by Alexei Alekseenko, VPSS spokesman.
Tomasz Solis, Deputy Head of the Polish Fruitgrowers Association, said that the decision was heavily influenced by political motives. "The political situation in Ukraine would sooner or later have affected our relations with Russia," he said. "Russia is one of our prime target markets, with 60 or perhaps even 70 percent of our exports going there."
Russia also threatened to increase the price of oil that the country has been supplying to the EU. Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Europe's sanctions created more obstacles in cooperation in important sectors such as the energy sector.
REUTERS | MOSCOW TIMES
