Rosselkhoznadzor: relations with Moldova's phytosanitary service 'little-understood', we work directly with suppliers

MOSCOW. Dec 8 (Interfax) - No relationship between Russian agricultural watchdog Rosselkhoznadzor and the service responsible for phytosanitary support in Moldova has been built, and the Russian side has to work directly with Moldovan enterprises interested in supplying their products to Russia, Rosselkhoznadzor head Sergey Dankvert said in a Rossiya 24 TV channel broadcast on Thursday.

"Unfortunately, I can't say that relations have been built with the Moldovan authorities dealing with plant quarantine and phytosanitary regulations. Our situation is not very clear," he said. As such, Rosselkhoznadzor works directly with specific companies that want to supply their products to Russia and will continue to do so.

At the moment, 53 Moldovan companies have the right to supply fruits and vegetables to Russia, Dankvert said.

The management of the relevant services in Moldova has a wait-and-see attitude, he said. "The official authorities have created a kind of snail formula for themselves, in which they hide and wait for what Brussels will say: can they communicate with Russia or not? So far, apparently, it's impossible. Well, we are looking for an alternative, we work with enterprises," Dankvert said, noting that the Moldovan side is more interested in these supplies.

"By and large, generally unfriendly countries during their "unfriendliness" since 2014 [the year Russia imposed a ban on food supplies from countries that imposed or supported sanctions on Russia in connection with the annexation of Crimea - IF], have reduced the share of crop product imports to Russia to 2%. Before, this was almost 70%," the Rosselkhoznadzor chief said.