Russian fish is still entering EU markets in the run-up to Christmas, with annual imports worth hundreds of millions of euros reaching the bloc, despite its wider sanctions on Moscow, Euractiv reports.
The EU has hit Russia with multiple rounds of economic restrictions since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, but most food trade has been left untouched, with only select fishery items – mainly caviar (and substitutes) and crustaceans – banned, a move that has had limited impact because Russia only shipped small quantities of those products to the bloc.
The supply of other fish products has kept flowing, particularly of cod and Alaska pollock, even as Brussels has asserted publicly that the EU has done a lot to move away from Russian fish, according to the report on Tuesday.
EU data shows that the bloc still imported about 179,000 tonnes of fish worth around €709 million ($836 million) last year, the biggest importers being the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Poland. Imports have continued even after preferential tariff treatment was removed in 2024.
With tariffs on Russian cod currently at around 12%, costs are soaring. “In the run-up to Christmas, prices [are] reaching levels never seen before,” said Jorge Carneiro, vice-president of CPPME, a Portuguese confederation representing micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises.
Still, the Baltic countries, Finland, and Sweden have been pressing Brussels to curb Russian imports further, which includes calling for higher tariffs on fish products. Poland has backed tougher action on Moscow as well, but its fish processors say they remain heavily reliant on imported raw material.
The European Commission has so far held back, citing stable import flows, Euractiv writes.
Russia has been expanding fish exports to non-EU markets, with the Agriculture Ministry saying shipments of fish and seafood were up 13% from January to October 2025. Exports of scallops and frozen fish to China hit record levels this year, while crab shipments resumed to Tunisia and began to Thailand.
In July, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Aleksandr Grushko said Russia’s trade turnover with the EU has fallen from $417 billion in 2013 to around $40 billion, which is expected this year.
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