Trade of EEU countries with European Union falling dramatically

The number of the trade restrictions for the goods imported from the Eurasian Economic union (EEU) has grown to 133. European Union has imposed the biggest number of restrictions – 21, Andrey Slepnev, the minister in charge of Trade, Eurasian Economic Commission, said on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).  “So far, we can say protectionism is growing – 133 restrictions have been imposed against EEU goods, which is by 4 restrictions more than at the beginning of the year and almost by 30 restrictions more than in 2012, when we started monitoring the field,” he said.

European Union applies 21 restrictions, Slepnev said. “I do not count the sanctions that are of political nature. We do not include them in our register,” he said.

“We believe that such step run contrary to the global integration trend and affect our trade relations.  The trade with the European Union has fallen dramatically. In 2014, it fell 7%, while in Q1 2015, we saw a 36% decline,” he said.

“We can see that the trade with the EU is falling amid depreciating Ruble, but we can see that trade with the EU is falling more rapidly than the one with other partners.  The trade with the EU accounts less in our total trade portfolio than the trade with our Asian partners. This heralds dramatic changes. We should take special measures not to lose the confidence of businesses and the citizens, as well as the ties we have been developing for decades,” the minister said.