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Ministry of Economy: the EU may limit the import of agricultural products from the Russian Federation and Belarus as early as April

Author:
Oleksandra Amru
Date:

Ukraine managed to reach an agreement with the European Commission on limiting the import of agricultural products from Russia and Belarus to EU member states. The European Commission may adopt a corresponding ban already in April.

The Deputy Minister of Economy, trade representative of Ukraine Taras Kachka told Forbes about this at the Summit of Made in Ukraine exporters.

According to him, Ukraine managed to achieve the approval of restrictions on the import of agricultural goods from Russia and Belarus to EU member states on February 1, during the EU leadersʼ summit.

"Legally, this proposal can be approved already in April. It was proposed to the European Commission for consideration," Kachka added.

He also noted that this is a very "good document" for Ukraine, as it allows the same mechanism of banning imports from aggressor countries to be extended to other goods that have not yet been subject to sanctions — primarily, metallurgical goods.

"It is important for us to implement the project of displacing Russian raw materials and semi-finished products and replacing them with Ukrainian ones," Kachka explained.

Also, the ban on the import of Russian and Belarusian agricultural products by the EU is a clear signal to the protesting European farmers that the Russian Federation and Belarus create more problems and inconveniences for them than certain prejudices against Ukrainian goods, he added.