YEREVAN. – We regret Russia’s decision to suspend imports of the Moldavian wine, Foreign Minister of Moldova Natalia Gherman said.

“We are very sorry about it, because the relationship of trust and mutual understanding established with Russia, allow address all the problems, especially technical ones, in this way. Therefore, we are ready to hold consultations at all levels concerning the complaints about quality of our products,” Gherman told Armenian News-NEWS.am correspondent.

She noted that the same wine that has been banned by Russia are now freely accepted by the EU.

Armenia is one of the few CIS states which has not experienced to full extent the gravity of Russian “trade wars”. There is a partial ban on fish import , as well as full ban on meat products is preserved. The ban on meat products has been operating for ten years on the suspicion of foot-and-mouth disease. And if the fish export promises significant growth, the export of meat products for Armenia is extremely small.

However, fish in the total export of Armenia is not as important as wine for Georgia, sweets and meat and dairy products for Ukraine (and Belarus) and sprats for Latvia. All these products that have dependence on the Russian market came under sanctions which often coincided with the foreign policy interests. For example, one of the previous embargo on Moldova was introduced in 2010 after Chisinau declared June 28 the Day of Soviet occupation.

Asked whether the new ban was Moscow’s attempt to warn Chisinau against signing the Association Agreement and DCFTA with EU, Gherman stated that Moldovan society perceived the ban as a political sanction.

“But at the government level, we are trying to understand the technical side of the problem. We are trying to understand the specific claims brought against us. We have not seen it in formal written format yet. But we are willing to sit down at the negotiating table, and we think that this resource is not yet exhausted. A delegation headed by the Minister of Economy and Agriculture will leave for Moscow next week,” she said.