Russia’s Agricultural Import Ban: Winners and Losers

Russia’s agricultural import ban is one of the most recent examples of protectionism in agricultural trade. Introduced in 2014 and renewed every year since then, it has disrupted food supply chains and agricultural trade in Europe and influenced the prices and structure of food production in Russia. Current literature on Russia’s import ban mentions the multidirectional effects of the ban, with limited negative effects on agricultural output, employment, and trade flows for countries within the scope of the ban (the EU, the USA, Canada, Australia, and Norway), and a significant increase in the self-sufficiency of certain sectors of agricultural production in Russia. In parallel, Russia’s domestic prices of food products included in the ban have increased, shifting the cost of the ban on consumers and providing additional support for producers via a price channel. Trade flows from countries within the scope of the ban have been partially substituted by supplies from Latin America and Asia, as well as the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). Russian agricultural producers received some benefits after the introduction of the ban, while Russian consumers and EU agriculture suffered losses, although there is a possibility of a compensating effect from the re-export of banned products via neighboring countries.