Poland: Russia's embargo only hurts Russia itself
The first victims of Russia’s embargo are Russian entrepreneurs themselves, while Polish businessmen increase exports and find new markets in Africa and Asia, according to a report by the Polish Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers.
As the newspaper Gazeta Polska Codziennie reports, last year the value of exports amounted to 179.5 billion euro, registering a growth rate of 8.3% as compared to 2014. Thus, the food restrictions imposed two years ago by Russia “did not affect the results of Polish exports.”
The newspaper notes that Russia “is spreading false information regarding the allegedly great losses of Polish companies due to the embargo,” and the head of the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance estimated Polish losses to be $800 billion.
In 2015, the main export markets for Poland were Germany, Great Britain, the Czech Republic, Italy, France and the Netherlands, as noted in the report.
“If we take away oil and gas revenues, which any Russian company could get, Russia would be among the poorest countries in the world,” the President of the Polish Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers, Cezary Kaźmierczak, added.