Prior to the Armenian parliamentary elections, Russia limit the entry of several Armenian goods into its market due to “inconsistencies in quality.”
Russia is not the only country in which economic controls and restrictions are being tightened amid political tensions. Media.am’s fact-checking team, Verified, has examined when, why, and in which countries such restrictions have been imposed.
Armenia
Russia’s phytosanitary control service, Rosselkhoznadzor, has imposed temporary restrictions on the import of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, green crops, and strawberries from Armenia to Russia, effective May 30.
As of June 3, the Russian Federation has banned the import of fruits, eggplants, potatoes, and dried fruits from Armenia, along with their transit to other member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).
Previously, the export of fish products and Jermuk mineral water from several companies was also prohibited.
In parallel with the restrictions, on May 26, the leaders of the EAEU issued a joint call (archive) for Armenia to hold a nationwide referendum. This referendum would determine whether the country should join the European Union or remain part of the Eurasian Economic Union. They urged that this decision be made in a timely manner.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously stated that Armenia must choose between the European Union and the Eurasian Economic Union. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan emphasised that leaving the Eurasian Economic Union is not currently on Yerevan’s agenda.
Georgia
Between 2004 and 2006, relations between Georgia and Russia deteriorated under the leadership of Mikheil Saakashvili, a strong advocate for NATO membership. Georgia’s policies prompted Russia to impose severe economic sanctions even before the 2008 war.
In 2006, Russia’s state consumer protection body, Rospotrebnadzor, banned the import of Georgian wines, Borjomi mineral water, and agricultural products, citing quality issues.
Russia’s former chief sanitary inspector, Gennady Onishchenko, stated that the wines contained excessively high levels of pesticides and heavy metals.
As a result of these restrictions, Georgian wine exports fell from $81.4 million in 2005 to $29.2 million within two years, according to Reuters.
In 2006, Radio Liberty’s Georgian service reported that the restrictions might have been tied to Georgia’s refusal to support Russia’s bid to join the World Health Organisation (WHO).
During the same year, several senior Georgian officials characterised the sanctions as politically motivated and as a means to punish Georgia.
These products returned to the Russian market only in 2013. Initially, the import of Georgian wine and mineral water was permitted, followed by other products. Relations improved with Bidzina Ivanishvili’s appointment as Prime Minister of Georgia.
In 2019, Russian-Georgian relations once again took a turn for the worse. The trigger was an incident during the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy held in Tbilisi, when Russian MP Sergey Gavrilov took the seat of the Georgian parliament speaker and continued the session in Russian. The incident sparked mass anti-government and anti-Russian protests in Georgia. Georgia.
On June 21, Vladimir Putin signed a decree (archive) suspending flights between the two countries. Kremlin justified the move by citing concerns over the safety of Russian tourists, as protests accompanied by clashes were underway in Tbilisi.
Moldova
Moldovan goods began to face bans in 2005 when Russia imposed restrictions on the import of meat, vegetables, and fruits.
The following year, in 2006, the import of Moldovan wine was also suspended. The official explanation for this ban was that laboratory tests had detected harmful substances in Moldovan wines.
Before the ban, Moldovan wines represented 60% of the Russian market, according to the Russian state news agency TASS.
In November 2006, an agreement was reached between Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin and Russian President Vladimir Putin to resume exports of Moldovan goods. To ensure quality, the Moldovan President established a new mechanism for quality control of exported wine. As a result, in 2007, Moldovan alcoholic beverages reentered the Russian market.
Until December 31, 2005, Moldova received Russian gas for $80 per thousand cubic meters. However, on January 1, 2006, Gazprom announced a two-fold increase in this price. Chisinau rejected the new terms, leading Gazprom to halt gas supplies to Moldova on the same day.
In December 2006, Gazprom and Moldovagaz signed a new contract. In 2007, the price of Russian gas for Moldova was $170 per 1,000 cubic meters.
In 2010, Mihai Ghimpu, the acting president of Moldova, signed a decree declaring the Day of Soviet Occupation. The Russian Foreign Ministry described the document as “sacrilege and a distortion of history.”
Russian experts later expressed concerns about the quality of Moldovan wine. The chief sanitary doctor determined that the wines were unfit for consumption. However, the Russian authorities did not provide an official comment regarding the complete ban on imports.
The acting president’s decision was later deemed unconstitutional.
A ban on wine imports from Moldova was also imposed in 2013, the same year that imports from Georgia were being restored. The reason for the ban was concerns about quality.
The complaints from Rospotrebnadzor began just before Moldova signed the Association Agreement and the Comprehensive Free Trade Area Agreement with the European Union in 2013.
That same year, Gazprom also cut gas supplies to Moldova by about 30%.
This followed the election of Moldova’s pro-Western president, Maia Sandu. This action was seen as an attempt to pressure the pro-Western government in Chisinau.
Ukraine
Relations between Ukraine and Russia sharply deteriorated in 2005 following the victory of the Orange Revolution in Ukraine, which led to the establishment of a pro-Western government.
At the beginning of 2006, Russia stopped gas supplies to Ukraine due to a disagreement over prices. “Gazprom” aimed to raise the gas price from $50 to $230 per thousand cubic meters, a proposal the Ukrainian side declined.
On January 4, the parties signed a five-year agreement that established an interim tariff of $95 for Ukraine. However, this only temporarily postponed the underlying issues. On January 1, 2009, Russia suspended gas supplies again, citing non-payment of accumulated debts.
On January 7, all flows of Russian gas passing through Ukraine to Europe were also halted. The crisis ended on January 19 with the signing of a 10-year gas contract between Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Vladimir Putin in Moscow.
On January 18, 2006, Rosselkhoznadzor announced it would impose temporary restrictions on the import of all types of animal products from Ukraine into Russia. The reason given for this decision was alleged violations of sanitary norms.
Trade embargo
On August 14, 2013, the Russian Federal Customs Service placed all Ukrainian exporters on its “risk group” list. As a result, long-term inspections of Ukrainian cargo began at Russian customs, effectively paralysing trade between the two countries. This restriction was imposed before the anticipated signing of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union, which was scheduled for the fall.
On September 19, 2014, the Russian government announced the decision to impose customs duties on goods imported from Ukraine. These duties would take effect if the Ukrainian government proceeded with the economic provisions outlined in the Association Agreement it signed with the European Union. These restrictions went into force in 2016.
In December 2015, Vladimir Putin signed a decree that officially suspended the CIS Free Trade Zone agreement with Ukraine.
Finnland
Relations between Russia and Finland sharply deteriorated following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. On May 12, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced that Finland was prepared to join NATO.
The next day, May 13, the Finnish electricity grid reported that Russia had halted its electricity supply due to payment difficulties. It was noted that electricity imported from Russia accounted for approximately 10 percent of Finland’s total consumption.
On May 21, Gazprom completely stopped supplying gas, citing non-payment in rubles.
Ecuador
In January 2024, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa announced plans to transfer old Soviet and Russian military equipment to the United States. This transfer would include helicopters, multiple launch rocket systems, and an air defence system, among other items. In exchange, Washington promised to provide Ecuador with $200 million in modern American weapons to help combat organised crime. The United States did not hide the fact that the Soviet equipment would subsequently be sent to Ukraine.
In early February, Russia suspended the licenses of five major Ecuadorian banana exporters, claiming that a “saprotrophic fly” had been found in their products.
As a result, the Ecuadorian government was forced to give in to avoid economic collapse. The government officially announced that it would not send military equipment to the United States after learning that it would be used in an armed conflict.
