At the beginning of the year, Latvian Radio investigated the shelves of shops and now, after re-examination, it can be concluded that there have been no major changes and those traders who were selling these goods before are still doing so. Meanwhile, the responsible Ministry of Agriculture is continuing its work to impose increased import tariffs on a wider range of Russian and Belarusian products.
Several types of Russian-made teas, dry soups, various spiced sauces, sunflower seeds, adzhika sauce – these are just some of the products offered by the Mego chain. The same shops offer air fresheners made in Belarus, while the drinks shelves are stocked with spirits.
Several Belarusian supermarkets are still open in Riga, for example, cosmetics in Ilguciems, vodka, sweets and other products in Latgale suburb, and Belarusian shoes in the Central Market.
Low-price shops such as Mere also offer goods from these countries.
Asked why the stores still stocked goods from the aggressor countries, Aleksandrs Afanasjevs, Head of Marketing at Mego, explained that immediately after Russia started the war in Ukraine, the company started to review its assortment of Russian and Belarusian goods and made changes to the range of products and suppliers. Supply contracts with suppliers from both countries have been terminated and work is now underway to find substitute products for the remaining goods from these countries. It should be noted that Mego has been saying this since the beginning of the war.
Russia remains among the top ten countries from which Latvia imports a variety of food products, according to the Central Statistical Bureau. For example, this year, almost €2 million worth of beverages, €750 000 worth of cocoa and cocoa products, €368 000 worth of ready-made sauces and spice mixes were imported from Russia.
In total, Russian food imports amounted to more than €81 million in the first seven months of the year, compared to €106 million last year.
At the same time, food imports from Belarus this year amounted to €12 million, while the total value of food imports last year exceeded €20 million, the highest in 20 years. The largest imports were food industry residues and complete animal feed, beverages, and sugar confectionery.
Food imports from Russia and Belarus are not banned in the EU.
The Latvian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LTRK) has maintained its position since last year on maximum trade restrictions with the two aggressor countries, and in February this year drew red lines on further cooperation with Russia and Belarus.
"From the point of view of the LTRK, the main task is to limit these trade relations as much as possible, both in the export and import directions. This is one of the calls we have made to our members. The East and the two aggressor countries are definitely not the partners with which to build sustainable cooperation, because it is clear that anything can be expected from these countries in these geopolitical circumstances. And this means that from the point of view of companies, cooperation with them is not sustainable," explained Jānis Lielpēteris, Member of the Board of the LTRK.
Meanwhile, Dagnija Muceniece of the Ministry of Agriculture pointed to a number of decisions already taken. These include both the sanctions imposed by the European Union and the import ban adopted nationally by Latvia. On March 8 this year, a ban on imports of all vegetables, fruit, nuts and berries, all cereals, raw materials for animal feed and finished animal feed came into force. Import tariffs have been increased on cereals, oilseeds, vegetable oils, food industry residues, finished fodder and peas.
Muceniece said that work is currently underway to impose higher import tariffs on a wider range of Russian and Belarusian products, to restrict imports of products from these countries into the EU. It is not yet known when this might happen.
