By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Vladimir Putin says 19 US poultry producers will be barred from exporting their products to Russia.
The former president, now Russia's prime minister in charge of the economy, says the unnamed American producers ignored warnings from Russian inspectors who examined poultry companies last year.
Speaking in an interview with CNN Thursday, he said a further 29 producers would receive warnings.
Putin said the move had nothing to do with tension over the recent war in Georgia and was purely economic.
Russia is an important market for American poultry producers.