According to Igor Artemyev, head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, new restrictions on the supply of fruit and vegetables from Turkey will not cause prices increase in Russia.
“Everything that could affect food prices in Russia have already happened. Immediately after the introduction of sanctions and counter-sanctions prices rose by 200-300%, mostly due to the loss of supply channels. Now new channels are created. We import fruit and vegetables from Iran, Abkhazia, Armenia. Two years ago we were in a vacuum, and now there is no vacuum”- said Igor Artemyev.
In the spring of 2016, Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) banned the import of some categories of plant products from Turkey for phytosanitary reasons. So, in March and April, the agency banned the import of Turkish pepper, eggplant and pomegranate. On May 16, they banned shipments of lettuce and iceberg lettuce from Turkey, on May 19 – squash and pumpkins.
Rosselkhoznadzor representatives said earlier that the list of prohibited goods could be expanded, including Chinese cabbage, lemons and grapefruits. But due to the readiness of Turkey to discuss the current situation, further restrictive measures have not yet accepted. On Wednesday, Sergei Dankvert, head of department, told reporters that as for now Rosselkhoznadzor has no plans to ban import of all fruits and vegetables from Turkey.
January 1, 2016, Russia imposed a ban on the import of a number of agricultural products from Turkey. The country can not export to Russia strawberries, oranges, tangerines, grapes, apples, pears, apricots, peaches, nectarines, plums, some vegetables.