View of Yalta and the Black Sea from Mount Ai-Petri. File photoSIMFEROPOL, June 2The food blockade of Crimea by Ukraine has forever remained in the past, trade and economic ties with the liberated Kherson and Zaporozhye regions are being restored, Oleg Kryuchkov, adviser to the head of Crimea on information policy, told RIA Novosti. The supply of goods and food to Crimea from the Kherson region of Ukraine was blocked in 2015 year. Officially, it came into force from mid-January 2016. Then, in a short time, the region reoriented business and transport logistics links to the mainland of Russia.
"The liberation of the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions put an end to the food blockade of Crimea by Ukraine. She is forever in the past. Crimea and the liberated regions are actively restoring trade and economic ties that were once lost due to the fault of Ukrainian nationalists,» Kryuchkov said.
According to him, the supply of fruits and vegetables to the Crimea from the Kherson and Zaporozhye regions has significantly reduced prices in the region. «Prices for seasonal vegetables and fruits in Crimea have fallen two to three times. Old-timers do not remember such prices. This is perhaps the best answer to all «doubters» to the question: what will the Kherson region give Russia? The liberated regions of southern Ukraine are grain, vegetables, fruits. In fact, this is the future food granary of Russia and a very good geopolitical tool. Food is the new oil, already in the medium term,» — stressed Kryuchkov. During the special operation, the Russian military took control of the Kherson region and the Azov part of the Zaporozhye region in southern Ukraine. Civil-military administrations have been formed in the regions, Russian TV channels and radio stations have begun broadcasting, and trade ties with Crimea are being restored. The liberated regions announced plans for reunification with Russia.