Russia's claims to products of the Roshen Corporation are a continuation of trade wars, which have been waged against Ukrainian products, supplied to this country over recent years.

Head of the Razumkov Center's economic programs Vasyl Yurchyshyn has said about this in his comments to Kommersant Ukraine on the yesterday's statement of Russian chief sanitary doctor Gennady Onishchenko about the revealed violations of Russian norms in the Roshen confectionary.

“This is an economic pressure on the part of Russia, which urges Ukraine to enter the Customs Union this way,” the expert is convinced.

According to him, it is not ruled out that following the claims to the Ukrainian confectionary, restrictions for import of other goods will follow. “Earlier, Russia has repeatedly lodged claims to the quality of Ukrainian cheeses and meat,” he noted.

Primarily, Russian producers will win from restrictions for imports of Ukrainian products to Russia, co-owner of Russian factory Konfael Irina Eldarkhanova believes. “It is not ruled out that the consumer will not even feel the absence of Roshen products. However, it may allow other Russian factories to boost production volumes,” she said.

According to Euromonitor, in 2012, 3.2% of the Russian confectionary market fell on Roshen (the sixth position among producers).

As reported by Ukrinform, Ukrainian politologists consider a ban for supply of Roshen confectionary to Russia a political pressure, which may be related to the clear European integration position of the corporation's owner, Ukrainian MP Petro Poroshenko.

In spring this year, another Customs Union member, Belarus, also restricted the sale of imported confectionary.

Ukrinform