Ljubljana lost about 10 million euros ($11 million) in 2015 due to Russia embargo on imports of milk and dairy products, Slovenian Ambassador to Moscow Primoz Seligo said.
Moscow —The ambassador noted that the Russia-Slovenia relations had a positive dynamics even under such circumstances and the situation “would become better” in two or three years.
“Only due to [Russia’s] ban on supplies of milk and dairy products, Slovenia lost about 10 million euro as direct losses. Of course, the problem lies in the absence of long-term money at the Russian enterprises. If there was a ‘live capital,’ the total figure, probably, would be less,” the ambassador stated in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper, published on Friday.
The Slovenia-Russia trade dropped by 30 percent in 2015 due to the sanctions policy, world oil prices decline, as well as ruble exchange rate fluctuations, Seligo added.
In 2014, relations between Russia and the European Union, including Slovenia, deteriorated amid a crisis in Ukraine. Brussels, Washington and their allies introduced several rounds of anti-Russia sanctions over Crimea’s secession from Ukraine, accusing Moscow of meddling in the Ukrainian conflict.
In August 2014, in response to the Western restrictive measures, Moscow announced a one-year food embargo on products originating in states that imposed sanctions against it. The ban has since been prolonged.
