KIEV: Ukraine said on Wednesday it may impose a ban as soon as next month on imports of dozens of Russian goods -- from dog food to locomotives -- as a retaliatory measure against Moscow which this month said it was suspending a free trade zone with Kiev.
The list, which was set out in a statement from the country's economy ministry, included meat and meat products, baby food, chocolate, fish, cheese, coffee, beer, tobacco, alcohol, herbicides, and railway hardware including locomotives.
The ministry said in a statement it had proposed that the government ban imports of the goods from Jan. 10 "as a response to the actions of the Russian Federation." The government has yet to approve the list.
The trade row ignited after Russia said it was suspending a free trade zone with Ukraine because of "extraordinary circumstances affecting the interests and economic security" of Russia, a reference to a free trade pact Kiev had agreed with the European Union.
Moscow said the EU-Ukraine pact, which is due to come into force next month, could lead to a flood of European imports into Russia and make its own exports to Ukraine less competitive.
Kiev has said the trade war with Russia could cost it $600 million next year or about 0.6 percent of its trade turnover.
Controversy surrounding the EU-Ukraine trade deal was the initial trigger for unrest in Kiev, which culminated in the ousting of Viktor Yanukovych, the country's Moscow-backed president in 2014. Russia then annexed Crimea and backed a separatist revolt in eastern Ukraine, steps that led to Moscow's worst standoff with the West in decades.
The Ukrainian parliament last week gave the government the right to impose a trade embargo against Russia. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said he regretted Russia's decision to end preferential trade with Ukraine but was "ready to pay the price" for the EU trade accord.
Reuters
