Exports to the European Union accounted for 10.2% of the total foreign sales of Crimea in the first quarter of 2014, the Crimean Ministry of Economics said on June 27, two days after the EU imposed a ban on all imports from Crimea unapproved by the Ukrainian government.
Crimea’s total exports for the first quarter were worth $57.2
million, a volume where the EU’s share was $5.9 million. April’s exports
to the EU were a mere $72,000, the ministry said in a statement
published by Crimea’s Information Ministry.
“Exports to EU countries mainly consist of products of the
engineering and chemical industries and agriculture,” the statement
said.
Germany was the number-one importer of Crimean goods – 4.5 percent of
Crimea’s total exports before Crimean sales to the EU plummeted. Hungary
was the second largest recipient, being the destination of 2.1 percent of
Crimea’s total exports.
“After the ban on imports into EU countries, Crimean enterprises have
an opportunity to redirect their products to the domestic market and to
markets in the Middle East, China, India, Turkey, Azerbaijan, etc.,
where there is demand for Crimean products,” the statement said.
Russia remains the chief market for Crimea’s engineering and wine
industries and agriculture while its chemical goods are in demand not
only in the EU but also in Asia, the Economics Ministry said.
On June 24, EU foreign ministers approved a ban on all imports into
EU countries of Crimean goods without the go-ahead from Kyiv. The ban
took effect on June 25.
