Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree extending the ban on food imports from EU member states and other western countries by 18 months.

The restriction was introduced in the sumer of 2014, in response to economic sanctions imposed by Western states on Moscow over the developments in Ukraine.

Signed on Wednesday and available online [RU], the decree also reads that the duration of the "separate special economic measures" (the ban on imports) can be amended by the government if necessary.

A number of items ranging from fruits and vegetables to meat, milk and dairy products are now blacklisted if they originate from EU countries, the US, Canada, Australia, and Norway.

Subsequently, countries such as Montenegro, ALbania, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Ukraine were added.

Russia had long argued some EU products are reexported from countries falling out of the scope of sanctions.

The EU earlier in June agreed to keep sanctions in place by the beginning of 2017.

Over the weekend, Agriculture Minister Desislava Taneva said the sanctions had resulted in some EUR 400 M in losses for Bulgaria's food processing industry and agricultural sector.

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