At the beginning of the month Russia was once again the target of critics as both the local and foreign public was appalled by its decision to publicly destroy hundreds of tonnes of EU food, which wasn’t allowed to enter the country because of the embargo on European food products.

After Russia introduced the ban last year, Slovenia’s Minister of Agriculture, Dejan Židan, explained that Slovenia annually exported around 30 million euros worth of food to Russia. From that figure 10 to 12 million euros of food are under threat.

What kind of impact does the Russian food import ban have on Slovenian farmers? The Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry (KGZS) says it closely follows the developments between the EU and Russia with concern, especially because of the consequences these disputes will have on Slovenia’s agriculture.

"The ban has caused most harm among fruit growers and dairies, which have been especially hit because of the abolishment of milk quotas. Unfortunately we have no official figures on the amount of damage and indirect damage caused by the dispute, as we do not have the possibility to collect such data. It is true though that food companies (which are not our members) have been under most pressure, while our farms haven’t been directly influenced yet. The majority of our farms are focused on the domestic market. They redirect any surpluses they have on foreign markets through cooperatives or food companies. But, of course, the difficulties that our cooperatives and food companies face are also felt by our farms, mostly in the form of lower selling prices for their products," is what the KGZS stressed.

“We here, at the chamber, hope that common sense will prevail and that the political disputes will end with an agreement to the benefit of all the affected parties. Chiefly, because the new increase in supply of European fruit, vegetables, milk and dairy products, which would otherwise find buyers in Russia, will definitely further influence the price of Slovenia’s produce and products. And the potential further decrease of the already low selling prices would cause even more harm to Slovenia’s agriculture, which is already experiencing difficulties," the Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry added.

Gregor Cerar; translated by K. J.