Dmitry Peskov: We can’t lift sanctions for one EU member only but we can import food ingredients

Russia is considering importing food ingredients from Western countries, the Russian President’s Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday, when asked to comment on the Greek government’s request to lift the ban on the supply of some types of agricultural produces.

He said that as a WTO member, Russia cannot lift its sanctions for one EU member only. “In this particular case, we might consider importing customer-supplied raw materials and creating food processing companies in our territory,” Peskov said.

He said that during his visit to Budapest in Feb 2015, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Hungarian and Russian agro-industrial companies might continue their cooperation despite sanctions. Earlier, Greek Deputy Minister for Rural Development Panagiotis Sgouridis at a meeting with Rosselkhoznadzor (Russian agricultural watchdog) official Alexey Alexeyenko said that Greece was interested in Russian exports. He also said that Greek agricultural producers sustained losses because of Russian sanctions.