The announcement comes amid wide changes to the Russian economy due to Western sanctions over the Ukraine war.

The Russian Embassy in Dhaka on Monday said the Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance of the Russian Federation, or Rosselkhoznadzor, removed previously imposed restrictions and resumed the import of potato from Bangladesh on Saturday.

The decision has been made based on the information provided by the competent Bangladeshi authorities responsible for quarantine and protection of plants, about the measures taken to prevent violations of the phytosanitary requirements of the Russian Federation and the Eurasian Economic Union member states, the embassy said in a statement.

The measures were discussed during the meetings of Russian Ambassador Alexander Mantytskiy with Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi and Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque. They also discussed the expansion of the Bangladeshi export range of products, according to the statement.

Russia has also lifted restrictions on the import of pears from Bosnia, nuts from China and apples from Azerbaijan.

It halted potato import from Bangladesh in May 2015 saying harmful bacteria were found in Bangladeshi produces.

In the 2014-15 fiscal year, Bangladesh exported 110,000 tonnes of potato.

Annual potato export now hovers around 100,000 tonnes. The country produced 11.3 million tonnes of potato in 2020-21 against a demand of 7.7 million tonnes.

Bangladesh usually exports potato to Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailandg, Hong Kong, Vietnam, the Maldives, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Ethiopia and Nigeria.