SIMFEROPOL, August 5. /TASS/. The volume of banned food imports into Russia has declined tenfold after the Russian president signed a decree on destroying sanctioned products, agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor Head Sergey Dankvert said on Wednesday.
"Illegitimate imports have now declined by 10 times. We are in constant contact with the border guards. Today these deliveries to Bryansk, Pskov and Smolensk have declined by 10 times. Kazakhstan has also cut these supplies by 10 times," he said.
According to Rosselkhoznadzor data, the first batch of sanctioned foodstuffs will be destroyed on August 6.
"I don’t think there will be a large volume [for destruction]. I believe there will be hundreds of tons but no more than several hundred tons," the Rosselkhoznadzor head said.
The products banned for importation into Russia were destroyed before as well and therefore there is nothing new in this process, he said.
The new presidential decree on the destruction of sanctioned foodstuffs concerns Crimea to a less degree, Dankvert said.
At the same time, the Black Sea peninsula has more problems with the delivery of inferior products from Ukraine, he added.
"We used to partially return them and now we’ll discuss these issues [products destruction]. These are not as simple issues as you believe," he said.
At the same time, there are no serious problems with the destruction of products in Crimea banned for importation, he said.
"Destruction by itself causes no difficulties," the Rosselkhoznadzor head said.
The initiative to take measures for destroying imported foods from Russia’s list of sanctioned products was put forward on July 24 by Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachyov at a meeting held by the Russian president with government members.
President Vladimir Putin supported this initiative. It was announced on July 29 that the Russian president had signed a decree on destroying from August 6 the imported foodstuffs covered by Russia’s embargo imposed as a countermeasure to western sanctions against Moscow over its stance on developments in neighboring Ukraine.