Lithuania calls on the European Commission (EC) to compensate 46 million euros losses sustained by the country as a result of Russia’s embargo on food imports from the EU, the minister of agriculture Virginija Baltraitienė told the LRT Radio.
“We specify the amount. It is 46 million euros. However, it is a short-term measure which is enough to recover the losses for three to four months,” Virginija Baltraitienė noted. The European Commission acknowledges that Lithuania has incurred the largest losses among all EU countries. Vilnius expects to obtain at least a part of the requested amount. “The main measure, which we want to discuss and what we are asking for, concerns the payment of compensations, allocation of money as compensations to farmers, who saw the purchase prices for their products plummet. This fall in Lithuania has been the biggest among the European countries. We expect them to understand our circumstances and we hope to obtain some financing,” Baltraitienė said.
August 7, 2014 Russia imposed the ban on food imports from the EU. The embargo list includes beef, pork, vegetables and fruit, poultry, fish, milk, and dairy products. According to the estimates of ING Groep NV, the Russian retaliatory sanctions will cost the EU €6.7 billion in 2014. In late August, Lithuania’s media reported that purchase prices of milk had slumped twice. During H1, Lithuania exported to Russia milk and dairy products worth 304 billion Lithuanian litas. The total food exports are estimated at 2.353 billion Lithuanian litas in 2014.