The French minister hopes that the sanctions against Russia can end before the summer. The American minister John Kerry also recently voiced this hope. Russia intercepted and destroyed various parties of fruits and vegetables from boycotted countries in recent weeks. Iran is boycotting the re-export of Turkish products to Russia, Abkhazia is joining the Russian boycott of Turkey. In the Ukraine the prices in the supermarket are rising, faster than in the Crimea.
French minister: end to sanctions possible this summer
The French minister of Economics spoke to French businesspeople in Moscow on January 25. The minister voiced his hope that the sanctions against Russia would be lifted after the implementation of the Minsk agreements. This could end the conflict between Russia and the Ukraine before the summer. "Our collective goal is to lift the sanctions before the summer," a Russian newspaper quotes the minister. Earlier this month the American minister John Kerry voiced his hope that the sanctions could be lifted over the coming months. However, part of the sanctions were placed in response to the annexation of the Crimea, the chance of these sanctions also being lifted is low.
Iran boycotts re-export of Turkish product to Russia
The Iranian authorities have banned exporters from transiting Turkish products to Russia. According to Iran the re-export isn't in the interests of the Iranian trade relations. The Iranian fear a boycott from Russia among other things if Turkish products are transited to Russia.
Kremlin 25 billion dollars short in 2015
The Russian government was short 25 billion dollars last year, which is 2.6 percent of the BNP, the ministry of Finance announced on Friday. In income for the state treasury was 3 percent higher than expected at 175 billion dollars. The spending was also slightly above the estimates. The country spent 200 billion dollars, 1.2 percent more than budgeted for. A shortage of 19.2 billion dollars, or 3 percent of the BNP is expected this year. In the budget the Kremlin assumes an oil price of 50 dollars per barrel, the current price for oil is 28 dollars per barrel.
Russian economy shrank by 3.7%
Last year the Russian economy shrunk the most since 2009. The percentage was 3.7 percent. Economists took into account a shrink of 3.8 percent. An important cause of the shrinking economy is the low oil price. The sanctions of the West also play a role.
Russia destroys European fruit
Last week the Russian inspection destroyed 19.5 tonnes of Polish apples. The Russian inspection intercepted the apples on January 22nd. The 1500 boxes didn't have the required phytosanitary certificates, the markings on the pallets and packaging pointed to Poland as the country of origin. Earlier this month 250 kilos of Polish mushrooms, 2.4 tonnes of Belgian pears and 228.4 kilos of Turkish tomatoes were destroyed.
Inspection clears 22 tonnes of Turkish products from supermarkets
The Russian inspection found 22 tonnes of Turkish products which are on the boycott list in supermarkets and stores in the first two weeks of this year. According to the inspectors it was simple to distinguish the smuggled goods, they lacked all information on the country of origin. "We assumed everyone would follow the rules, but we found violations in different regions in Russia," according to the inspection.
16 tonnes of cabbage back to Turkey
The Russian customs denied 16.3 tonnes of Chinese cabbage access to the country. The cabbage was imported from Turkey. The reason for sending it back was the presence of western flower trips. Chinese cabbage isn't on the list of boycotted products that came into force in January.
X5 replaces Turkish produce with Iranian produce
The Russian retailer X5 has announced it will replace Turkish products with their Iranian counterparts. The chain is now working with Iranian companies to set up trade mission. X5 says they no longer have Turkish fruits and vegetables in their assortment. Azerbaijan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan are three countries that will replace Turkish products.
Russian apple growers push up prices
Apple growers pushed up the prices for apples last week. The price change is partially prompted by larger trade streams. The demand for good quality apples is big, mainly suppliers have lesser quality available. The prices for import apples also went up due to the erratic rate of the rouble. The prices have gone up around 10 to 15 percent.. Russian apples bring in around 0.47 to 0.74 Euro.
Abkhazia follows Russia in Turkey boycott
The government of Abkhazia has announced a boycott of Turkish producers. The list includes fish, vegetables and fruit. The government of the contested republic is following Russia in this. Abkhazia has a contested status. The area was part of Georgia but the state announced independence.
Ukrainian retail decreases by 21 percent
According to the statistics the supermarket turnover (with the exception of the Crimea) has decreased by 20.7 percent. The turnover decreased most in Loegansk and Donetsk, two regions where the internal conflict is concentrated. In these regions the turnover decreased by 71.5 and 66.4 percent respectively. Kiev and Kirovohrad noted the smallest decline: around twelve percent.
Vegetables in Crimea cheaper than in the Ukraine
Traditional vegetables are a lot cheaper in Crimea than in the Ukraine, reports Fruit-Inform. Consumers in Crimea pay an average of 40 percent less than the Ukrainians. White cabbage costs 0.17 to 0.26 dollars per kilo in Crimea, in the Ukraine that price is 41 percent higher. Onion prices are between 0.13 and 0.18 dollars per kilo in Crimea compared to 0.22 to 0.28 dollars per kilo on the mainland. Beets are the opposite, they are cheaper in the Ukraine.
McDonald's looks for Russian chip potato
McDonald's Russia is looking for Russian potato growers who want to grow the potatoes for the chips. At the moment a lot of chips are still imported from Poland. According to the fast food chain there are no plans to replace the import with domestic product. Russian chip factories say they have no plans to produce the McDonalds chips and the growers organisation points out that the climate in Russia isn't favourable for the varieties McDonalds processes into chips.