For decades, Belarus has been keeping close political and economic ties to Russia. Moreover, Belarus has been the key supplier of agricultural produce to its neighbor Russia. However, the small Slavic republic can lose the vast Russian sales market. The Russian nationals got used to Belarus-grown potatoes in their supermarkets. Recently, Russia’s agricultural watchdog detected that something is wrong with the traditional vegetable. When checking a batch of potatoes, inspectors found out that the Belarusian shipment documents disguise potatoes grown in Egypt.
Earlier, Russia cracked down on shrimps, squids, and Parmesan cheese supplies from the EU via Belarus. The investigation revealed that Belarus gave the EU farmers a hand with evading Russia’s food embargo. Now, Belarus has been involved in another tricky transport scheme. Officials from the watchdog discovered labels confirming the Egyptian origin of potatoes. No wonder, the Russian authorities could eventually introduce a total ban on potato imports from Belarus.
“On the grounds of the investigation and with the aim of barring further deliveries of suspicious produce to Russia, the cargo will be brought back to Belarus under supervision of phytosanitary officials and handed over to appropriate authorities for bringing an action against wrongdoers,” the agricultural watchdog made a statement.
