A Russian lawmaker is proposing to impose a tax on soft drinks and potato chips that contain “excessive” sugar or fat, citing countries such as Denmark and Hungary that target unhealthy food.
The excise tax might be set at 12 rubles (US$0.17) per 100 grams of chips and 15 rubles per liter of soda, according to draft legislation submitted by Russian lawmaker Oleg Mikheev and published on the State Duma’s Web site.
“The measure will primarily affect global producers such as Coca-Cola Co and PepsiCo Inc and not Russian producers that have lower sugar content,” Mikheev wrote in an explanatory note to the draft law.
Russia has adopted a series of protective measures to try to boost domestic production as it confronts US and EU sanctions over the Ukrainian crisis, and strives to punish Turkey for downing a Russian warplane last month.
It banned some food products from the US and Europe and blocked imports of Turkish goods, including poultry, fruit and vegetables. Russian tour operators were also told to stop selling vacations to Turkey.
However, Russian exporters of grain have resumed deals with Turkish buyers after a short break caused by a deterioration in relations between the two nations, traders and analysts said.
For several weeks after Turkey shot down the plane near the Syrian-Turkish border, Russian and Turkish traders held back from signing new contracts, fearing Moscow could suspend grain exports to Turkey or that Ankara could curb purchases, the traders and analysts said.
However, no such measures have been imposed and business has returned to normal, they said.
“Concerns over possible supply disruption to the Turkish market, which existed in late November, early December, have not materialized,” said Andrey Sizov, managing director of SovEcon agriculture consultancy.
Referring to Turkish buyers, a Moscow-based grain trader said: “We have no problem, they are buying from us.”
A consultant who advises Turkish grain buyers in Russia, who declined to be named, also said that Turkish traders were now signing new deals with Russian suppliers.
Russia is an important source of wheat supplies for Turkish flour millers and a weaker ruble has made Russian grains cheaper for them in US dollar-denominated prices.
Ankara imported 1.7 million tonnes of Russian wheat from July to November, making it the second-largest buyer of Russian wheat after Egypt so far in the 2015-2016 marketing year, which started on July 1.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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