Is Armenia also a state that deserves Russia’s “sanctions”?
The “sanctioned” foods are ruthlessly destroyed in Russia. According to the Rosselkhoznadzor data, 871 tons of food were confiscated and destroyed since August 6, the import of which is prohibited in the territory of Russia. It is already confiscated 595 tons of contraband vegetable food, of which 555 tons were destroyed, recently reported the Rosselkhoznadzor (Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance). In addition, 307 tons of animal food was confiscated, of which 51 tons was destroyed. Thus, the Russian media continues spreading information that the smuggling of the food to Russia is continued, but the authorities are dealing with the problem. It is interesting, however, that the Armenian sturgeon appeared under the disposal of “sanctioned” foods.
Recently, the Rosselkhoznadzor confiscated 200 kilograms of the Armenian sturgeon at the Sochi Airport. The fish was imported from Armenia by “Ararat Trout” LLC. The confiscated fish were burned, and according to the “Rosselkhoznadzor” employee, Adigeya Victoria Kokosyan, the reason for confiscation of the sturgeon was that the Armenian organization does not have the necessary documents for the import of goods into the territory of Russia, therefore, its name is missing from the Rosselkhoznadzor list of entrepreneurs. Also, it was reported that the representative of the company which delivered the sturgeon, himself, submitted an application requesting to burn the fish.
This is not all. Russia’s Federal Service for Animal and Plant Sanitary Surveillance is preparing a letter to the authorities of Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan with a message about restriction of import of fish from 14 Norwegian fish-breeding enterprises as of 24 August 2015, associated with the denial of conducting inspections in these enterprises. This information was informed by the Head of the Department of Inspections, Vasily Lavrovsky. In other words, Rosselkhoznadzor restricts the import of Norwegian fish to the Russian territory under embargo thru the EaEU countries. The Norwegian seafood are banned in Russia since last year, after as a response-sanction after the sanctions of the West against Russia.
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The source also noted that the Norwegian seafood is among the foods appeared under the retaliatory sanctions in Russia against the West, and thereby, Moscow is trying to restrict its access thru the Eurasian Economic Union countries. The Rosselkhoznadzor leadership noted that the relevant letter was to send to the Embassy of Armenia in Russia, in the meantime the “illegal” fish will be destroyed. Armenia’s access to the European Economic Union, thus, is getting remarkable colors. We were promised that Armenia’s access to the EaEU market would be beneficial for our country’s economic development. And now, it turns out that Armenia also falls under the wave of the “sanctions” implemented by Moscow against the Western countries.
On the one hand, of course, there is also something positive in all of this. Maybe, in Russia, Armenia today is mostly associated with the West, and they consider Armenia also a country that deserves Russia’s “sanctions”. If Armenia is equaled to the EU countries in the Kremlin, this, certainly, is appreciated, but if we approach the question more seriously, then our country is gradually facing the negative consequences of the decisions made within the EaEU. Today, Moscow is restricting the import of the Norwegian fish thru the EaEU countries to the territory of Russia under embargo, and tomorrow, it may ban the import of goods and products of this-or-that western country to any EaEU member states, commonly.
So, in the future, we still have to taste the bitter “fruits” of accessing to the Eurasian Economic Union. And where are the assurances about the advantages of the Eurasian market and the access of the Armenian products there? In addition, does anyone believe that in the Russian reality, the name of any company can be included in the list of Rosselkhoznadzor exclusively by the principle of compatibility with some standards and legality rather than, let’s say, by the bribery? “Ararat Trout” LLC may possibly not registered in the Rosselkhoznadzor’s Entrepreneurs list (probably, until the last incident, no relevant documents were ever requested from them), but does anyone exclude that of the LLC had “paid” the Russian officials in advance, it would not be compelled to burn the fish.
In reality, the access of the Armenian products to the Eurasian market would always happen under the risk of expression of Russian pertinacities and its consequences. From the outset, it was clear that the European market will not become a union of economically exemplary and disciplined countries, and cannot become as such as, for example, the EU market. But today, the saddest fact is that, when Russia is facing serious financial problems, when the citizens of Armenia and numerous families already feel the impact of these problems: the ruble devaluation, the decrease in remittances, parallel to all of this, the Armenian companies can at times appear in various unpleasant situations when exporting goods to Russia.
Emma GABRIELYAN,
“Aravot” daily
