Gray imports of sanctioned food products via Belarus should be reduced – Russian Minister
There is no chance to completely stop the flow of illicit goods from Belarus to Russia, but it may be reduced in a few times, Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukaev said in an interview with TV channel Russia 24.
“We hope that the volume of gray imports – illegal and unlawful – will decline,” state-run news agency TASS quoted the minister.
On July 24, Alexander Tkachev, the Russian Minister of Agriculture, asked Vladimir Putin to sanction destroying banned food products at the border. The Russian leader okayed the idea. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev also endorsed the initiative.
In an interview with radio station Govorit Moskva (Moscow speaking), Yevgeny Bobrov, a member of the Russian Council for Civil Society Development and Human Rights called the Minister’s proposal ‘despotism’. According to him, if sanctioned products happen to be in Russia, they should be handed over to the poor and refugees from Ukraine.
On July 23, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said that about 800 cases of violations of the embargo were recorded.
In June, Moscow extended the sanctions against the United States, Australia, Canada, Norway and the EU until August 6, 2016.
Read also: Gray imports from Belarus
