Russian Ban on Moldovan Fruit Imports Angers Chisinau

Moldova's pro-Western President Maia Sandu said on Wednesday that she does not understand why Russia imposed a new embargo on Moldovan fruits on August 15, as her country's goods meet EU quality standards that are higher than Russian standards.

Russia announced last week that it would block products from certain locations in Moldova, not including the Russian-backed breakaway region of Transnistria, on the pretext that they are contaminated by pests and plant diseases.

"When in the list of Moldovan locations that can no longer export to Russia there are no locations where such problems have been detected, then we wonder if it is an economic or political problem," Sandu told the NordNews website.

Sandu added that the Agriculture Ministry is negotiating with the Russians, but at the same time, the government can look for other markets for the country's fruit.

Russia is a key market for Moldovan fruit but officials in Moscow have denied that the ban has been imposed to exert pressure because Chisinau has moved towards the West politically.

The Russian state phytosanitary agency Rosselkhoznadzor insisted that the products from Moldova "repeatedly violate quality standards".

"The reason for the ban was the repeated detection of dangerous elements in Moldovan products that are subject to quarantine when entering Russia, about which the Moldovan side has already been repeatedly informed by the service," an adviser to the director of Rosselkhoznadzor, Iulia Melano, told RIA Novosti.

The restrictions will be applied to most Moldova districts, except those in the breakaway region of Transnistria, where Russia said it has not found any quality problems.

The leaders of the pro-Russian autonomous region of Gagauzia...