MOSCOW, August 18 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov will meet this week with his Serbian counterpart Snezana Bogosavljevic-Boskovic, the press service of the ministry told RIA Novosti.
The ministry has not yet specified the agenda of the meeting, though the parties may discuss prohibiting the re-export of banned European goods to Russia, as well as the possibility of increasing the supply of agricultural products from Serbia.
On August 6, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill on economic measures to protect the country’s security. The decree went into effect on August 7 and placed a one-year ban on the import of agricultural and food products from the countries that had imposed sanctions on Russia over the Ukrainian crisis. The list includes meat, poultry and dairy products as well as fruits and vegetables from the United States, the European Union, Canada, Australia and Norway.
On Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich said Moscow was actively cooperating with colleagues in Belarus and Kazakhstan, as well as in Serbia and Switzerland to prevent the re-export of banned products.
Earlier, Belarusian Agriculture Minister Leonid Zayats met with the head of Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) Sergei Dankvert and promised not to allow any re-export of banned products from Belarus.
A meeting with representatives of the Swiss government has not yet been scheduled, the Russian Agriculture Ministry said.
