Russian sanctions give Serbia unique food export chance - agriculture minister

BELGRADE, August 21 (Itar-Tass) - An opportunity to step up exports of agricultural and food products to Russia is “a unique chance Serbia should use if it is able to meet Russia’s high standards and regulations,” the Serbian agriculture and environmental protection minister said. “The Russian side is interested in all our agricultural and food products, particularly meat, milk, fruit and vegetables. We can export as much cheese as we can produce,” Snezana Bogosavljevic-Boskovic told journalists, adding that such exports would not raise Serbian domestic market prices. The minister said her country will “do everything possible to promote production at small enterprises as well, which is a big chance seen by many citizens and politicians.” Russian officials and companies came under Western sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes, after Russia incorporated Crimea in mid-March because the West and Kiev refused to recognize the legality of Crimea’s reunification with Russia despite Moscow’s explanations that it was legal. Moscow warned the West that the language of sanctions will have a boomerang effect. The West announced new sectoral sanctions against Russia in late July over Moscow’s position on Ukrainian events, in particular, what the West claimed was Moscow’s alleged involvement in mass protests in Ukraine’s war-torn southeast. In response, Russia imposed on August 6 a one-year ban on imports of beef, pork, poultry, fish, cheeses, fruit, vegetables and dairy products from Australia, Canada, the EU, the United States and Norway. The banned products list includes cattle meat (fresh, chilled and refrigerated), pork (fresh, chilled and refrigerated), poultry meat and all poultry edible by-products, salted meat, pickled meat, dried meat, smoked meat, fish, clams and other water invertebrates, milk and dairy products, vegetables, edible roots and tuber crops. The list also contains fruit and nuts, sausage and analogous meat products, meat by-products or blood, as well as products made of them, ready-to-eat products including cheeses and cottage-cheese based on vegetable fats. Russia has repeatedly dismissed Western allegations that it could in any way be involved in protests in the southeast of Ukraine, which started after Crimea refused to recognize the authorities propelled to power during a coup in Ukraine in February and reunified with Russia in mid-March after some 60 years as part of Ukraine. Learn more on itar-tass.com