Penza, 17 June 2016. PenzaNews. The Penza region governor Ivan Belozertsev asks the Russian Minister of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev from the name of agricultural producers in the region to undertake all measures necessary to retain the European food import embargo in Russia.

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“When I tell them that they need to work more actively right now to go to the markets, sell our foods, join federal retail networks and send foods for export, they tell me: Ask the state authorities, the Minister of Agriculture, to keep the European food import embargo as long as possible,” Ivan Belozertsev said during the SPIEF panel discussion “AGPgrade. Rebooting the Agricultural Production Complex” on Friday, June 17.

According to the head of the region, it should take 2-3 years before “everything sets as it should be.”

“So I have a big request – please keep the sanctions and keep this support,” Ivan Belozertsev asked Alexander Tkachev about the subsidies to agricultural producers from the federal budget.

As PenzaNews reported earlier, Alexei Ulyukaev, head of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, made a comment on the sidelines of the SPIEF about the French ex-president Nikola Sarkozy proposing Russia to be the first to withdraw the sanctions. According to the Russian high-ranking officials, being the first side to do so is not seen as an option for Russia.

“Our partners had the initiative to initiate [the sanctions], and therefore the initiative to lift them should also be theirs,” Alexei Ulyukaev explained, and added that Russia currently does not consider lifting the countersanctions.

In turn, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich remakred that Russia is ready to make amendments to its European food embargo if the original sanctions against Russia are lifted.

“If the sanctions get lifted – although I would not put too much hope on it right now – we will also adjust and change our measures. But we already understand and know how we intend to support our producers,” he said during the Russia 24 TV interview during the SPIEF.

The ban on food imports into Russia from the United States, the European Union, Australia, Norway and Canada was introduced on 7 August 2014, and later extended through 5 August 2016 in 2015. Moreover, Albania, Montenegro, Iceland and Liechtenstein joined the list in 13 August 2015 for supporting anti-Russian sanctions. On 1 January 2016, Ukraine was also added to the list.

The embargo affects imports of meat and meat products, fish and fish products, milk and milk products, vegetables, and fruits.

According to conclusions of the Russian Government Analysis Center in their report “Food Embargo: 2015 Results,” the countersanctions resulted in $9.3 billion worth of lost food export for the Western states.