The Russian Agency for Health and Consumer Rights (Rospotrebnadzor) is unwilling to settle the dispute over the supplies of Belarusian dairy products to , Belarusian Deputy Minister for Agriculture and Food Mikhail Saveliev told reporters on June 16. 

“Every time old issues are being settled, a new problem emerges. Everything is done to prevent the Belarusian products from getting access to the Russian market,” Mikhail Saveliev said. 

The Deputy Minister reminded that it is already the second time the Belarusian delegation came to Moscow to try to settle the issue. “We cannot find common ground with Rospotrebnadzor. During our first visit we had to wait three days until the chief of the agency received us. This time the negotiations seemed to be fruitful at first, we defined steps to resume the supplies of Belarusian dairy products. We agreed to hold a meeting today and sign the necessary protocols. But in the morning they told us that our delegation does not have the necessary authority though we have been authorized to sign all the documents. In the afternoon no one at Rospotrebnadzor picked up the phone. We came there, nobody was in; when we asked for a meeting with Rospotrebnadzor senior officials, the staff told us that they were not available,” Mikhail Saveliev said. 

He stated that the Belarusian side is always ready to resume the talks and reach an agreement. “But we will not be an instrument in somebody’s hands,” Mikhail Saveliev underlined.

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