Ukrainian companies are accusing Russian customs officials of discriminatively targeting their exports with heightened and time-consuming inspections that threaten to run up billions of dollars in losses.
The
extraordinary measures are widely seen in Kiev as the onset of a bilateral
trade war geared at discouraging Ukraine from signing a landmark association
and free trade agreements this autumn with the EU – pressuring it instead to
join a Moscow-led Customs Union comprised of former Soviet republics.
With
complaints piling up from last month into this week, Ukraine’s Federation of
Employers sounded the alarm bells with a public statement on Wednesday
declaring that “Russia is blocking Ukrainian exports”.
“De
facto, there is a complete halt on Ukrainian exports. Actions of the Russian
side could incur losses . . . up to $2.5bn in the second half of this year,”
said the federation, which represents the interests of 8,500 companies
producing 70 per cent of Ukraine’s gross domestic product.
Moscow
was on Thursday quick to distance itself from the actions of the customs
authorities.
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