Increase in EU tariffs on Russian grain imports will make them non-competitive – Nauseda

VILNIUS - Russian agricultural products will no longer be competitive if the European Commission's proposed increase in import tariffs on Russian and Belarusian grain is introduced, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda says.

"It is possible to make Russian grain non-competitive by economic means," he told Lithuanian journalists in Brussels, calling the economic measures proposed by Brussels "even more elegant" than an import ban.

Russia is deliberately dumping grain prices specifically on Europe in order to destabilize the block's food market, the Lithuanian leader said.

On Thursday, EC President Ursula von der Leyen said that higher tariffs on Russian and Belarusian grain would protect the European Union market from destabilization by preventing Russia from benefiting from the revenue generated by the exports of such goods.

Under the WTO rules, Russia's agricultural exports have so far been exempted from any EU import duties.