Russia placed pork and beef processed by Finland's Atria under an export ban in February, the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) reported on Friday.

Juha Grön, head of Atria Finland, said the events leading to the ban had begun last year.
"Over the course of their own inspections back then the Russians found types of antibiotics that have never even been used in Finland," the public broadcaster quoted Grön as saying.

"At that point we reckoned that that this may lead to an export ban."
A broader export ban spanning 14 Finnish food processing facilities entered into force on Friday. The ban was announced on the basis of inspections carried out in May.

"We hoped after the Russians' May inspections that we would have been freed from the export ban, but it did not happen," Grön told YLE.
Exports to Russia make up about 1.5 per cent of Atria's sales.

STT
LEHTIKUVA - TOR WENNSTRÖM