Embargo

180K+ sign petition against destruction of contraband food at Russian borders

Over 180,000 people have backed a request to cancel the recent presidential order to destroy the contraband foodstuffs imported into Russia in violation of an embargo introduced last year in reply to Western sanctions.

The petition was published on the US-registered website change.org, which specializes in various public initiatives by a private person under the name Olga Savelieva. The author stated that the food embargo had caused a significant rise in food prices, forcing pensioners, large families and other poorer groups to restrict their consumption. She then calls for the president to cancel the order on destruction of smuggled edible items and asks the parliament to develop and pass a law that would allow the seized foodstuffs to be distributed to people in need, free of charge.