"We are not planning to cancel the food embargo so far,” said Dvorkovich at the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum on Saturday.
The deputy premier added that Russian authorities are instead discussing the reduction of import duties for a number of products from the food embargo list for countries, which have not imposed sanctions on Russia.
Dvorkovich’s remarks came two days after four Russian lawmakers submitted a bill contesting the 6-month old embargo. The Lower House committee for Economic Policy has said it would not support the motion, saying the embargo "was right in principle.”
Russia imposed a year-long food embargo against a number of countries including the United States, members of the European Union (EU), Australia, Canada and Norway last August in a tit-for-tat measure after Western governments applied bans on Russian individuals and entities for its alleged involvement in the Ukraine crisis.
According to Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo, the EU has lost some USD 24 billion as of the beginning of February due to the Russian bans on meat, fish, poultry, fruit, vegetables and dairy products.
This is while the Western bans target Russia’s financial and energy sectors as well as a number of Russian nationals close to President Vladimir Putin.