Brussels, 09/04/2015 (Agence Europe) - Athens and Moscow are planning to set up joint Greek-Russian companies so that Greek agricultural products can get round the obstacle posed by the Russian embargo on the import of agricultural produce from EU countries, a Greek government source said on Wednesday 8 April when speaking about the issues discussed during the visit of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to Moscow.
“There exists a shared will to begin the process of setting up joint Greek-Russian companies for Greek exporters of agricultural produce”, said the source in a written document, AFP reports. By using these companies, the sales of Greek fruit and vegetables would “not be considered to be exports”, the source stated, thus allowing Greek farmers to find a way around the major obstacle since last summer of the Russian food embargo, put in place by Russia in retaliation for European sanctions in the Ukrainian crisis.
The export of agricultural produce and energy issues were two of the main issues discussed at the meeting between Tsipras and Vladimir Putin. With regard to lifting the embargo, the Russian president said at a press conference that “we cannot make an exception of one single European Union country”. However, Putin also alluded to forming joint companies for the export of Greek peaches, strawberries, kiwifruit and lemons for all of which Russia is a major outlet. (Lionel Changeur)