"The delays in filling the gaps, caused by certain sanctions, with Latin American products are obvious. This process needs to be spurred, because the quality of local [Latin American] products is very, very high, everyone knows that," the ambassador said in an interview.
As a result of the inspections, conducted by the Russian agricultural watchdog in Ecuador in November 2016, more Ecuadorian products could appear on the Russian market soon, among them fish and shrimps, cheese and dairy products, Veklenko noted.
"Ecuador has perfect coffee, chocolate and cocoa. However, they have not been supplied so far and this is the potential that could be used," the ambassador said, referring to the Ecuadorian import to Russia.
The European Union, the Unites States and some other Western countries imposed sanctions against Russia in 2014 over Moscow's alleged involvement in the Ukrainian conflict and several times extended them. In turn, Russia has denied the allegations and in turn introduced a food embargo on meat products, dairy products, fish, fruits and vegetables from certain countries that sanctioned Moscow.
