KIEV, October 22. /TASS/. Ukraine will lose $17 million until the end of this year from Russia’s ban on crop imports from the former Soviet republic, Ukrainian Agrarian Policy and Food Minister Ihor Shvaika said on Wednesday.

“If the ban continues into next year, the losses may total from $50 million to $60 million,” he said. “From October 22, a ban by (Russian agricultural watchdog) Rosselkhoznadzor on the deliveries and transit of crops from Ukraine to Russia has come into force,” the minister said.

Russia has imposed a ban on the import and transit of all crop products from Ukraine starting from October 22, 2014, Russia’s veterinary and phyto-sanitary watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor said on Tuesday.

The Russian agricultural watchdog earlier asked its Ukrainian counterpart to provide information about the vegetables and fruit supplied to Russia that might prove to be re-export items from the EU countries. It set October 21, 2014 as the deadline.

Rosselkhoznadzor said it had sent its request because “a sharp increase in the deliveries of crop products from Ukraine, as well as the absence or the deliberate removal of labels from products’ packages testify to their non-Ukrainian origin and can be explained by the supplies of crop cargoes from the European Union covered by Russia’s corresponding sanctions.”

On August 7, 2014 Russia embargoed all key groups of foodstuffs, including vegetables and fruit from the EU countries in response to sanctions against Russia over the Ukrainian crisis.