Ukraine temporarily banned seven Russian food companies from selling some of their products on Ukrainian territory on Wednesday, in a sign trade tensions between the two countries were worsening since Russia annexed Crimea.
Trade relations between Ukraine and Russia have already been rocky in the last few years, with Moscow banning imports of certain Ukrainian goods such as cheese and Ukraine, in turn, restricting shipments of some goods from Russia.
"As of today, (we) are taking appropriate measures to remove from shops and major retailers ... Russian products which were delivered with violations," Ukraine's consumer protection watchdog said in a statement.
The body listed four Russian confectioners, including top Russian chocolate producer Red October, one cheese producer and two fish companies, which it said had broken product-labelling rules and possible other regulations.
A consumer protection official told Reuters it had not yet been decided how long the ban would be in place. It was not immediately possible to ascertain what volume of Russian products would be affected by the bans.
Russian authorities last year halted confectionery imports from Ukraine's Roshen, citing health concerns and in March it seized a Roshen-owned factory located in the Russian city of Lipetsk, halting production.
