ROME, September 23. /ITAR-TASS/. The losses of the Italian agricultural sector as a result of Russian countersanctions in response to Western punitive measures against Moscow for developments in Ukraine will total €200 million annually, experts from the Coldiretti association uniting representatives of the sector said Tuesday.
“With the ban on imports to the territory of the Russian Federation of a number of food products — vegetables and fruits, cheeses, meat and sausage products, as well as fish, Italy will lose about €200 million a year,” Coldiretti said.
Besides direct losses, the industry will also sustain indirect losses, experts said.
In particular, the association is afraid that products imitating Italian will land on the Russian market, which will harm the reputation of Italian products. Not to mention the fact that Italian suppliers will be ousted from the Russian market, which is considered one of the most promising and fast growing.
Italian Agriculture Minister Maurizio Martina is pushing for the unblocking of European Union funds due to be allocated to support farmers affected by Russia’s countersanctions.
Ways to overcome the crisis and compensate for the losses to European agriculture will be considered at an informal meeting of EU specialized ministers to be held in Milan on September 28-30 as part of Italy’s presidency of the European Union.