The situation in Ukraine is going to be discussed at the EU summit on August 30 as well as the possibility of imposing additional economic sanctions on Russia. If the EU leaders decide to tighten the sanctions, the corresponding move can be prepared by the European Commission.
In late July, the EU and the United States imposed sanctions against a number of sectors of the Russian economy. In response, Russia has restricted food imports from countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia - the United States, the EU member states, Canada, Australia and Norway. The prohibition included beef, pork, poultry, sausages, fish, vegetables, fruit, dairy products and some other products. Russia has been experiencing the mode of counter-sanctions for a month now. The chairman of the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation's commission for the development of small and medium-sized businesses, Dmitry Sazonov, said that the share of the countries included in the sanctions list in the Russian market is relatively small: beef constitutes 2.5%, pork - 13%, poultry - 7.9% fish - 13%, dairy products - 1.3%. At the same time, in the reception of the Russian Minister of Agriculture there are queues of producers from other countries who are willing to compensate for the banned products and even increase the amount of delivered foods. It is clear that quite a decent vacant place on the market of the Russian Federation is a tidbit for other countries, and it is quite logical that those suppliers who still work here today raised their prices. It is the demand that forms the prices for the products that consumers are ready to buy.
Sazonov believes that, despite all difficulties and obstacles, a new opportunity to promote their products on the market has emerged for Russian entrepreneurs. "It's really a great chance for Russian producers. The question is whether they will take advantage of this opportunity or not," he said. Among the problems the sphere is facing the expert named a lack of personnel in the sphere of agriculture, lack of access to financial resources and difficulty in receiving support. The main problem, Sazonov said, is the fact that there is no distribution network, no supply chain. In his opinion, it should be a regulatory function of the state to address these issues.
