KIEV, March 14 (Xinhua) -- The Ukrainian government decided on Wednesday to impose a temporary ban on importing mineral fertilizers from Russia, local media reported.

According to Interfax-Ukraine news agency, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman instructed the Economic Development and Trade Ministry and the Justice Ministry to formalize the decision by next week.

For years, Russia had been largest fertilizer supplier to Ukraine, accounting for 80 to 90 percent of the market.

Last year, Ukraine imposed the anti-dumping duties of nearly 32 percent on imports of nitrogen fertilizers from Russia, saying dumping prices have affected local fertilizer producers.

Ukraine and Russia have taken a series of restrictive measures against each other after Ukraine joined a free trade zone with the European Union (EU) in 2016.

Moscow has suspended a Russia-Ukraine free trade agreement, fearing that the Ukraine-EU trade deal would result in a massive re-export of European goods into the Russian market without import duties.

For its part, Kiev has canceled preferential import duties on a range of Russian goods and imposed an embargo on some products made in Russia.