FX.co ★ Kremlin strives to boost domestic agriculture

The EU-Russia food war is going on. None of the sides has benefitted from the retaliatory sanctions. The EU imposed economic sanctions on Russia’s banking, oil, and defense sectors that dealt a major blow to Russia’s economy. In response, Russia placed an embargo on food imports from the EU. As a result, EU farmers lost their main export market overnight worth €5.5 billion. They made attempts to evade the new export regulations. In a zealous effort to bar prohibited cheese and seafood from the EU, the Kremlin issued a directive giving customs officers the authority to smash illegal food stuff. Nobody has won the food war so far.

On June 29, 2016 Russia’s President Vladimir Putin signed a decree prolonging a ban on EU food imports until the end of 2017. "To extend from August 6, 2016 until December 31, 2017, special economic restrictive measures in line with a decree by the Russian president aimed at ensuring Russia's national security," the decree reads. On the whole, the food war has been unfolding since August 2014. Interestingly, the Kremlin decided to add some remarks to the decree. From now on, it is allowed to import EU meat and vegetables on condition they are used in the baby food production.

Moreover, Russia’s scarce food supplies will be replenished with Turkish fruit and vegetables. Moscow and Ankara declared that diplomatic and economic relations between them have been rebooted.