ST. PETERSBURG, September 19. /ITAR-TASS/. Fish and seafood imports from Denmark's Faroe Islands and Greenland are substituting for other nations' products Russia has banned from entry in response to Western sanctions over events in Ukraine, the federal customs service for the northern Baltic region said on Friday.

“Sales of fish products in the region have not significantly decreased since sanctions were imposed,” Sergei Dobrynin, first deputy head of the Baltic service, said in a statement from the northwest customs directorate, responsible for Russia’s largest port, St. Petersburg.

“The current ban does not apply to goods originating from the Faroe Islands and Greenland,” the official said.

Northwest customs said Russia imported about 600,000 tonnes of fish products through its service last year. Around 300,000 tonnes came in between January and August this year.

Russia's ban on food mports

Russia banned imports of meat, fish, dairy, fruit and vegetables from the United States, the 28-nation European Union, Australia, Canada and Norway for 12 months at the start of August, retaliating for Western penalties over events in Ukraine.

Combined with other import bans imposed earlier this year, the latest trade measures cover Western imports worth $9.1 billion in 2013, according to Russian customs data.

Russia's government proposes to replace imports from banned countries with supplies from elsewhere, alongside domestic produce to prevent shortages and price inflation.

Since August 8, Russia has been in talks with China, Turkey, Serbia, Egypt, Mauritius, Ecuador, Chile, Columbia, Mexico, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Paraguay, Guatemala, Morocco, Kenya, Argentina, Lebanon, the Faroe Islands, Tunisia, India and Pakistan to begin and increase supplies of meat, milk, vegetables, fruit, fish and seafood.