The Ministry of Agriculture of Russia is considering the possibility of a complete ban on the import of vegetable fats from the European Union, which are used in the confectionery industry. Kommersant writes about this with reference to the participants in the department's meeting.

According to them, the Ministry of Agriculture asked representatives of the confectionery industry to collect information about products that use foreign vegetable fats and mixtures. The confectioners have a month to do this, after which they must issue technical specifications for the production of the same ingredients to Russian enterprises.

Margarine, spreads, special purpose fats, milk fat substitutes, and cocoa butter equivalents may be subject to counter-sanctions. According to the presentation of the Association of Confectionery Industry Enterprises (ASKOND), in 2021, 31.21 thousand tons of oil and fat products were imported into Russia.

Confectioners themselves oppose counter-sanctions. According to the Executive Director of ASKOND Vyacheslav Lashmankin, the transition will take up to three years.

One of Kommersant's sources said that the embargo would lead to the closure of two production lines of Ferrero Russia, thereby reducing output by 15,000 tons per year. United Confectioners will also suffer, in the event of the introduction of counter-sanctions, they will have to reduce production by 100,000 tons. Among the products of the enterprise are chocolate "Alenka", "Inspiration" and sweets "Korovka". According to the interlocutor of the publication, a ban on the import of fats from the EU could lead to a reduction in the Russian market by 6.2%.