Iceland review - 2016, Qupperneq 62

60 ICELAND REVIEW
BLACKLISTED
BY MOSCOW
For the first time in the history of Iceland-Russia relations, fish, which
had previously kept the two nations on the same wavelength, has
become an instrument of estrangement. Yaroslava Kutsai takes a
look at Russia’s import ban, imposed against the West in retaliation for
sanctions over the Ukrainian crisis, and its impact on Iceland.
BY YAROSLAVA KUTSAI. PHOTOS BY PÁLL STEFÁNSSON.
I won’t change my mind in this mat-
ter ... it’s wrong to stop supporting
these sanctions for the billions at
stake,” replied a defiant Minister for
Foreign Affairs of Iceland Gunnar Bragi
Sveinsson in January when starkly criti-
cized by representatives of Iceland’s fish-
ing industry who maintain that as a result
of a retaliatory ban from Russia on food
imports from Iceland the country stands
to lose up to ISK 18 billion (USD 140
million).
In August 2014, the Kremlin suspended
edible imports from the EU, Norway, the
US, Canada and Australia in response to
sanctions imposed by 40 Western nations
on the Russian Federation following the
annexation of Crimea in March of the
same year and the escalation of the mil-
itary conflict in Eastern Ukraine. A year
later, Iceland was added to the black-
list, along with Albania, Liechtenstein
and Montenegro, blocking the import
of Icelandic agricultural products and
seafood to Russia. With Russia being a
major export market for Icelandic fish-
eries, the ban is a significant blow to the
country’s economy. Despite the losses,
the Icelandic government insists that giv-
ing up solidarity would pose much more
serious risks for the island’s security.
THE MOST AFFECTED
Iceland’s fishing industry plays a leading
role in the country’s economy. Since the
2008 financial crash, accompanied by
the devaluation of the króna and, thus,
higher prices for fish abroad, the industry
has been doing particularly well. Until
recently, January, February and March
were the highest grossing months for
companies involved in processing pelag-
ic fish such as mackerel, capelin, and
herring—the most valuable and largest
Icelandic export category destined for
the Russian consumer. Now, approxi-
mately 1,000 Icelanders are feeling the
effects of the ban. “The main problem
is whether one gets 12-hour or 8-hour
shifts,” explains Drífa Snædal, managing
director of the Federation of General
and Special Workers. “There’s not as
much work as before, so it has led to a
reduction in wages by about 18 percent
in 2015 compared with 2014, which—
bear in mind—was a very good year.”
To somehow fill these missing hours
for frustrated employees, the federation
provides them with the opportunity to
study and obtain skills to improve pro-
duction.
Drífa, however, assumes that
Iceland’s largest fishing compa-
nies—Síldarvinnslan í Neskaupstað,
HB Grandi, Ísfélag Vestmannaeyja,
Vinnslustöðin í Vestmannaeyjum and
Skinney Þinganes—will find a way to
get by if the sanctions continue for
another few years. She is worried, mainly,
about small communities left with miser-
able tax revenues—such as Vopnafjörður,
POLITICS