The Russian authorities thought about the possibility of introducing economic sanctions against the Czech Republic in response to the expulsion of Russian diplomats from the country. About this on Saturday, April 24, reports Kommersant with reference to acquaintances with the discussion of the issue of sources in the state structures of Russia.
According to the interlocutors of the publication, we are talking about restricting the import of a number of Czech products, in particular, beer. It is necessary to resort to such measures to the authorities, because it is impossible to leave “unprecedented aggressive actions of Prague” without an answer, but there are no possibilities for them only, sources explained.
“If you act mirror, then you need to send all Czechs along with the ambassador, and there it is not far away. Therefore, alternative answer options are being considered,” the agency’s interlocutors clarified. At the same time, they stressed that when drawing up a black list in Moscow, they will first be guided by the principle of “not harm”.
According to the “Kommersant”, currently about ten Czech production brands comes to Russia. The share of Czech products in the total import of beer and beer beverages is only about ten percent, or 40 million liters per year. At the same time, the volume of Czech beer consumption in Russia is gradually decreasing due to currency fluctuations. Thus, most likely, the possible prohibition of the import of Czech beer will be only a “symbolic progress”, the director of the Center for Research of the Federal and Regional Alcohol Markets (NIGHT) Vadim Trobiz.
April 18, Moscow announced 20 employees of the Czech Republic Embassy with people Non Grata. These measures were taken in response to the expulsion of Russian diplomats from the republic day earlier. Prague considered that they work under covering the Russian special services, which, in turn, allegedly connected with explosions in Vrbetice. Also Prague announced the search for Russians Alexander Petrov and Ruslana Bolsharova. Representatives of Czech special services believe that they were at the explosion site in Vrbetice in 2014.
Explosions in the warehouse of ammunition occurred on October 16 and December 3, 2014. As a result of the incidents killed two people. The causes of incidents were not installed.