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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Thursday, 28.03.2024, 20:19

Estonian Agriculture Minister: we are already hardened to Russian sanctions

BC, Tallin, 07.08.2014.Print version
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the government Thursday evening to restrict food and agricultural imports from countries that have imposed sanctions against Russia; Estonian Agriculture Minister Ivari Padar said that Estonians are already hardened to Russian sanctions, reports LETA reffering to Postimees Online.

Ivari Padar

Padar told Postimees Thursday morning that no one can yet understand exactly what Putin's orders mean. "This is a statement of the President of the Russian Federation, the real content of which we will understand in time," Padar.


According to him, Russia is an important market for the Estonian agriculture but the importance has decreased year-after-year.


"When I was a minister for the first time (1999-2002 - ed.), Russia's importance was huge; today, the importance of Russia as a trading partner is much smaller. We're talking about 18.5% of total agricultural exports," Padar described. "At the same time, we've been hardened due to all kinds of Russia's policies, be it called pork export restrictions or a number of Estonian companies being excluded from Russia's exports. Lots of practice has taken place."

Padar said that dairy products exports would suffer most from Russian sanctions.






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