Food Blockade to Crimea Likely to Cause More Harm to Ukraine Than Peninsula

Crimea is virtually free from its dependency on shipments of produce from Ukraine, according to the First Deputy Minister of the Industrial Policy of the Republic of Crimea Konstantin Ravich.

Earlier, Ukrainian MPs and leaders of the pro-Ukrainian Mejlis, claiming to represent the Crimean Tatar nation, Refat Chubarov and Mustafa Dzhemilev declared their intent to block all shipments of goods and foodstuffs from Ukraine to Crimea. In order to do so, a group of "Crimean Tatar activists and Ukrainian patriots" is scheduled to arrive at the Russian-Ukrainian border in Crimea in late September.

"I believe that there's no reason to be afraid of some food blockade," Ravich said. "The residents of Crimea and tourists, when they visit local stores they see that Crimea virtually stopped using produce from Ukraine."

The deputy minister added that by considering the food blockade of Crimea the Ukrainian politicians dealt a mortal blow to the Ukraine's image as a reliable business partner.

Mikhail Kurkov, head of the Crimean Food Company, said that most of the goods and foodstuffs are delivered to Crimea from the Rostov and Krasnodar Regions of Russia, and that the local Crimean enterprises also increase their production output.

He also added that the capacity of the Kerch ferry is more than enough to provide the residents of Crimea with all the things they need.