The first shipment of olive oil arrived at Crimea under the cooperation agreement signed between Syria and the Republic of Crimea. Minister of Industry of Crimea Andrey Vasyuta underlined that 46 tons weighting highlights strong demand for the product prevailing in quality-to-price ratio. Shortly another freight will be delivered.
RF Foreign Ministry Representative in Simferopol confirmed via Twitter that Crimea got the shipment of Syrian olive oil. The Twit was provided with the picture of a cargo aircraft referring to air delivery. Crimea and Damascus signed memorandum on economic and trade cooperation on Yalta International Economic Forum in April 2018. The counterparts agreed on setting up a joint trading firm and starting regular sea freights between Syria and Crimea.
The agreements were concluded amid imposing EU sanctions against Crimea and Syria. Between 2011 and 2014 Brussels levied severe sanctions restricting access for EU companies to Syria. EU introduced economic sanctions against Crimea in 2014 after the status referendum.