Russia Bans All EU Fruit, Vegetable Imports

Russia has said it will ban all fruit and vegetable imports from the EU in response to the sanctions against Moscow imposed by the bloc over Russian support for Ukrainian rebels.

The ban will also affect all food imports from the United States, Russian news agency RIA has reported.  Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed the respective decree on Wednesday and the ban will be in force for a year.

It was not immediately clear what impact the ban will have on Bulgarian food exports to Russia. According to data from the Bulgarian statistics office NSI, Russia is in the ninth position on the list of Bulgarian export destinations with medicines having the largest share in exports to Russia.

Eighth on that list are Bulgarian wine exports.  Bulgaria also exports dairy and meat products to Russia.

The Russian government is expected to unveil on Thursday afternoon the list of food imports that will be fully or partly covered by the ban, RIA said.