Politics or health indeed?
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Another big news for the crisis-struck Lithuanian economy. Russia announced that it will not allow importing milk products from Lithuania. Losing this huge market is a disaster for this big business in Lithuania. The country mainly exports agricultural products. Of course, this news is not analysed in any other way than as an example of certain imperialism. Is it the full story though?
It is often stressed here that in Russia economy and politics are far from independent from each other. Big companies can end up being nationalised for heaven knows what reason. There's no way of excluding the statement that the government does maintain control over the economy. However, the fact that the official reason for forbidding Lithuanian milk export is rarely mentioned. Russian authorities claim that they found antibiotics in these products. A friend of my colleague, working in the milk industry, says that the only way to avoid E's (chemicals) is to use either radiation or antibiotics. I'm not sure what's worse. So Russian authorities have every right to forbid it, and I think Lithuanian authorities should do the same.