Russia to denounce 1956 Barents Sea fishing agreement with UK

Russia intends to ban the UK from fishing in the waters of the Barents Sea, the Izvestia newspaper said.

Russia will thus denounce the 1956 agreement concluded between the USSR and Great Britain. The Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia submitted the corresponding bill to the Russian government.

The Russian government has already approved the bill, the newspaper said. The decision will not cause serious foreign policy and economic consequences for Russia, government representatives said.

The Russian authorities decided to take such a step after the UK excluded Russia from the most-favoured-nation treatment in trade in March 2023. In particular, London introduced an additional 35 percent tariff on imports of certain Russian goods into the country.

Meanwhile, Russia has sharply increased fish exports to Europe, despite the crisis in Ukraine. According to The Daily Express, EU countries have increased their fish imports from Russia by one-fifth in comparison with the purchase level before the start of the special military operation.