OREANDA-NEWS. August 22, 2013. On the border with Russia, at the station Bryansk, without any explanation a large number of railway cars with cardboard and paper products are detained, contracts for the supply of products to Russian consumers are under the threat of failure, as Ukrainian Association of Pulp and Paper Industry Ukrpapir said in the statement directed to the Prime Minister of Ukraine Nikolay Azarov.

The Association is concerned about the decision of the Russian customs dated August 14, 2013 which is almost completely block the import of Ukrainian goods to the territory of Russia.

According to the Association, the damage of the largest enterprise of Ukrainian pulp and paper industry, the Kyiv Cardboard and Paper Mill (Obukhov, Kiev region) by blocking its goods at the customs border with Russia amounts to 3.75 million UAH (USD 0.5 million) per month blockade.

Kiev CPM exports to Russia about 20% of its production and has to pay a penalty to the Russian consumers of 125 thousand UAH (USD15 thousand) for each day of delay.

In case of breaking existing contracts with Russian partners the mill will incur a financial loss amounting to more than 32 million UAH (USD 4 million). Other Ukrainian enterprises exporting cardboard and paper products in Russia are in the same situation.

According to the Association, each year out of 900 thousand tons of products, Ukrainian enterprises export 500 tons worth about USD 1 billion. The main direction of supply is Russia.

In 2012, 327 thousand tons of products worth USD 0.7 billion were exported to Russia, and in the 1st half of 2013 - 176 thousand tons worth USD 0.4 billion, which is 53.8% of total exports for this period and by 14.3% more than the volume of exports during the same period in 2012.

Actions of the Russian customs to block exports, "of course, will result in significant financial losses for Ukrainian enterprises in the industry and will create the preconditions for violation of partnerships with customers in Russia. The decline in exports of domestic products will inevitably lead to a decrease in the volume of production in enterprises of the sector, the dismissal of workers and reduce the budgets of all levels,"- as the Association said in the statement.

The Association asks Prime Minister to take urgent measures to stabilize the economic relations between the countries.