Belgrade says will not stop food exports to Russia
(BELGRADE) - EU candidate Serbia on Friday said it would honour a call from Brussels not to profit from Russia's ban on Western food -- but stopped short of saying it would curb its own exports.
Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said his government would not intervene to stop Serbian farmers from shipping their produce to Russia as that would be "contrary to the interests of the state".
But he pledged to "comply with the EU recommendations" and not provide any subsidies to Serbian producers to help them boost exports to Russia.
Russia earlier this month imposed sweeping bans on food from the United States, the European Union and a handful of other countries in response to Western economic sanctions.
The trade war is part of a broader crisis in East-West relations sparked by Russia's perceived attempts to split strife-torn Ukraine in two after Kiev's decision to seek a closer ties with Europe.
European Commission spokesman Peter Stanos warned candidate countries to refrain from exploiting the Russian ban.
"In order to ensure the unity of the international community and to uphold the international law, the EU expects third and candidate countries to refrain from measures which are aimed at exploring new trading opportunities araising from Russian's sanctions," said a Brussels statement last week.
Russia relies heavily on foreign fruit and vegetables because its long winters and inhospitable climate keep farmers from growing produce desired by the country's booming middle class.
Serbia's food and agriculture exports to Russia totalled $117 million in the first half of the year, according to official figures.
Agriculture Minister Snezana Boskovic Bogosavljevic, who has been in Moscow for talks meat and dairy trade talks, said that represented just 0.2 percent of Russia's annual food imports.
"Even if Serbia reaches a peak of its export to Russia, it would be only 0.4 to 0.5 percent of Russian imports, an insignificant percentage that threatens no one," she said.