Belarus Companies to Lose $100Mln Due to Russia Food Ban: Ministry

Leonid Marinich, Belarus first deputy agriculture minister, stated that Belarus companies will lose about $100 million due to the closing of the Russian market for these enterprises.

MINSK, November 30 (Sputnik) – The losses of the Belarusian businesses whose goods are forbidden to be imported into Russia are estimated at some $100 million in 2014, Leonid Marinich, Belarus first deputy agriculture minister, said Sunday.

"If things carry on like that, we will lose about $100 million due to the closing [of the Russian market] for these enterprises," Marinich said in an interview with Belarusian channel STV.

Earlier, Russian agricultural watchdog, has banned the delivery of goods of more than 20 Belarusian companies due to the African swine fever virus (ASFV) genome discovered in the goods.

Minsk hopes to settle the issues with Moscow during talks next week and sign the needed documents on December 2.

In October, Rosselkhoznadzor already informed Vasily Pivovar, Chief Veterinarian of Belarus, of the discovered ASFV genome in the meat of several Belarusian meat processing plants, which is a major violation of Russia's veterinary and sanitary requirements.

The Russian watchdog asked the Belarusian side to investigate the causes of the incident and take necessary steps to prevent the export of infected products to Russia.