Moscow | Reuters — Russia does not plan to expand the list of banned Western food products, Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev told reporters.

Earlier on Friday, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered his ministers to draft proposals to extend Moscow’s food import ban until the end of 2017.

The Agriculture Ministry has already started preparing the draft of the proposal, Tkachev said.

“This is great news for the domestic agriculture producers. This (the extension) allows to plan investments into the industry, to increase the quality and competitiveness of Russian food,” the minister added.

Moscow in 2014 imposed a ban on imports of all meat, fish, dairy, fruit and vegetables from the U.S., the 28 European Union countries, Canada, Australia and Norway, in retaliation against sanctions on Russia over Ukraine.

— Reporting for Reuters by Polina Devitt.