Acting in line with its new restrictions imposed on Ukrainian transit from July 1, Russia has detained on its border 143 railroad cars en route from Ukraine to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, the press service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, citing data from the rapid response headquarters, reported.
”According to the rapid response headquarters, as of 9:00 on August 1, 2016, 143 railroad cars bound for Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan were detained on the Ukrainian-Russian border. Some 106 of these railroad cars continued the journey on an alternate route, 33 returned to the shipper and the remaining four railroad cars remained at the border interchange stations,” the report stated.
The press service noted that as at 9:00 on August 1, the State Fiscal Service did not report any restrictions on Ukrainian carriers while crossing the border the previous day.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on July 1, Russia imposed additional restrictions on the transit of Ukrainian goods through its territory. Accordingly, the food embargo on Ukrainian products and industrial goods has been extended until the end of the year. The current restrictions, earlier imposed on Ukrainian goods heading to Kazakhstan, now apply to transit to the Kyrgyz Republic. The legislative changes also provide for a complete ban on transit of embargoed goods.
Ukraine`s government on July 4 announced plans to immediately introduce retaliatory measures in response to Russia`s actions.
Russia`s moves were largely predictable, Ukrainian officials said. On June 24, the Ministry of Investment and Development of the Republic of Kazakhstan issued recommendations to Ukrainian carriers undertaking the transportation of goods to Kazakhstan to develop alternate routes bypassing Russia for goods transportation starting from July 1, 2016. In particular, Kazakhstan proposed to use routes passing through Georgia, Azerbaijan and via the Caspian Sea to the port of Aktau in Kazakhstan, as well as through Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
Ukraine and Russia introduced reciprocal trade restrictions in January 2016. According to various estimates, Ukrainian producers face losses of over US$1 billion due to the Russian-imposed restrictions.
