The food smuggling business is thriving between Poland and the Kaliningrad Oblast as Russian citizens grow increasingly frustrated over the lack of access to Western products because of sanctions, according to Polish media reports.
While much of the contraband appears to pass with little issue, some recent arrests have caused some anger.
Russians from Kaliningrad expressed their annoyance on Telegram over the persecution of smugglers. “Sanctions are in place and one can’t even smuggle,” complained one person. “They persecute people, why don’t they give us high-quality, cheaper food instead?,” wondered another.
Last Wednesday (11 January), the Russian phytosanitary authorities trapped a man trying to smuggle 20kg of Polish sausage into the Kaliningrad Oblast, as reported by Wirtualna Polska. The officials cited a lack of necessary documents and the risk related to the African swine fever virus.
The sausage smuggler paid a fine. In the picture of the confiscated products, which the officials published for the purpose of warning against similar practices, one can recognise a shopping bag from Biedronka, Poland’s most popular discount store chain, owned by the Portuguese Jerónimo Martins group.
The phenomenon of food smuggling to Kaliningrad may actually be of a much larger scale than what was initially believed. One woman from Kaliningrad said on Telegram she saw a lot of cars in the city “with much more than 20 kg” of smuggled products that no one confiscated. She called a customs clearance at the border “a fantasy”.
Most people heading to the Kaliningrad Oblast take bags with food with them, as the shops there are poorly stocked and the higher-quality products cost a lot, explained an employee of a Polish company operating at the border crossing.
He added that most of the travellers are students, people of German origin with Russian passports and Schengen visas, or Russians who have Polish spouses.
(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | EURACTIV.pl)
Source: euractiv.com
