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Unions that unite beverage and food manufacturers have appealed to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin with a request not to impose restrictions on trucks entering Russia.  

"In the context of the current reduction in logistics routes, transportation by road remains practically the only economically viable way to provide the domestic market with critically important products and goods, components, raw materials and equipment, and any restrictions on this track are fraught with negative consequences for the Russian market of food and agricultural products," - noted in the letter.

As the authors of the document recall, the government of the Russian Federation, as part of the plan of priority actions to ensure the development of the Russian economy in the face of external sanctions pressure, provides for a number of measures aimed at supporting imports. The plan provides for the establishment of priority in the customs clearance of consumer goods, including food and medicine, equipment, components and spare parts, at checkpoints, simplification of the procedure and reduction of time for state control at checkpoints across the state border of the Russian Federation.

“At the same time, we are forced to state that at present the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation is again considering the issue of restricting the movement of freight vehicles registered in the EEC on the territory of the Russian Federation, by analogy with the mechanism provided for in the Republic of Belarus, which provides for the need for transshipment/transshipment of cargo in specially designated places," the letter says. According to its authors, the introduction of such restrictions in Russia directly contradicts the logic of the plan, a number of measures of which are aimed at speeding up and simplifying the procedure for moving goods, raw materials and materials across the state border of the country.

The unions point out that the requirement for transshipment or retransmission of goods creates additional difficulties, which, in the face of sanctions pressure, become critical for Russia's food security due to the negative impact on the food industry, agriculture, and the provision of food products to the end consumer. "We ask you to give instructions to systematize work to support imports and ensure the unhindered transportation of goods to the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as, in cooperation with the government of the Republic of Belarus, to ensure the possibility of unhindered transit of goods through the Republic of Belarus in order to ensure the food and economic security of the Russian Federation," the letter concludes. .

The document was signed by the leadership of Soyuzdapitka, Soyuzmoloko, the Fish Union, the Askond Association of Confectionery Industry, the Rusbrand Association, the National Bakery Union, the Association of Beer Producers, the Rusprodsoyuz Association of Producers and Suppliers of Food Products, the Union of Food Ingredients Producers (SPPI). Representatives of the Ministry of Transport declined to comment.

On the request of the unions not to impose restrictions on trucks entering the Russian Federation on June 1, the Kommersant newspaper wrote.

In April, the EU countries imposed a ban on cargo transportation by vehicles registered in the Russian Federation and Belarus. The new sanctions affected the ban on road transport across the EU, including transit. Now vehicles of international transportation with Russian and Belarusian registration plates will not be able to move goods across the territory of the EU countries. At the same time, the restrictions do not yet apply to road freight transportation delivering pharmaceutical, medical, food and agricultural products, including wheat, energy carriers, non-ferrous metals and fertilizers. Road links for humanitarian purposes also remain open.

In this regard, the Association of International Road Carriers (ASMAP) sent a letter to First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Andrey Belousov with a request to develop and take response measures to the ban imposed on Russian companies from transporting goods across the EU, including in transit. Director General of ASMAP Andrey Kurushin in his letter said that in Belarus now, when crossing the border and customs terminals, the cargo is either transferred from foreign cars to Belarusian ones, or cargo semi-trailers are simply reattached to Belarusian trucks. Thus, part of the way the cargo is delivered by foreign companies, and part - by Belarusian motor transport enterprises, which made it possible to exclude their displacement from the market of international road transport services, he noted.

In May, the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov reported that the issue of introducing a ban on the entry of trucks with food and medical goods from the EU is not worth it. At the same time, the minister noted that the Belarusian version, when a truck reaches the border and its cargo is reattached to another heavy truck, will not cause serious logistical problems, but there is no serious need for its implementation now. According to him, the decision to impose a ban on the entry of trucks from the EU may come into force after there is a clear understanding that the border infrastructure is ready for it and the unhindered (without retransmission) transportation of such categories as humanitarian goods, pharmaceutical products and food is ensured.