Russia has imposed a temporary ban on poultry imports from 15 European countries, including Bulgaria, over risk of bird flu.

Russian food safety watchdog Rosselhoznadzor has published on its website a statement listing Austria, the UK, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, France, Croatia, the Czech Republic and Sweden as countries imports from which are banned on a provisional basis.

Russia currently applies restrictions to imports of poultry products as a segment of its food embargo imposed on Western countries back in the summer of 2014.

However, TASS quotes Rosselhoznadzor as saying "that ban functions on a governmental level, whereas the ban from Rosselhoznadzor will continue even in the event of [the other] measures being revoked, if the the situation with bird flu does not improve."

Until now, the list of sanctions announced in 2014 (and in force at least until 2017) included poultry products but not live birds.

Last week, Interfax banned imports of both birds and eggs from three Bulgarian regions (Sofia, Plovdiv and Vidin), some regions in Germnay over bird flu cases.