Russia boycott will cost NL €300m

Russia's boycott on The Netherlands will cost the country more than €300 million, according to The Netherlands Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS). Last year, the worth of the goods exported to Russia, now boycotted, amounted to more than €500 million in export worth. The Netherlands earned €300 million from this, which is because €200 million was paid for foreign goods and services. There were also around five thousand jobs attached to this export. Agriculture and food industries will especially suffer, as they profited the most from these now-boycotted goods. These industries produced and processed the vegetables, fruit, dairy products and meat that is on the black list. All the middle-men and industries providing services to these exports are also affected. In 2013, The Netherlands was an important supplier of the boycotted goods for countries close to Russia as well, such as Poland, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia. Some of these goods were meant for these countries, but some were also transported on to Russia, though the quantity is unclear. According to the CBS, if these countries did not produce goods such as tomatoes, peppers and grapes themselves and if the Dutch share in their export of each boycott product is the same as their own import, then this amounts to €700 million. This means that The Netherlands would lose another €300 million and five thousand jobs.