Russia bans import of a number of Ukrainian goods
Russia has banned the import of a number of goods whose country of origin is Ukraine or which have passed through Ukraine. The corresponding decree was published on December 29 on the Russian government website.
“The bulk of the goods which the ban has been placed on belong to the industrial category. The list also includes agricultural products, raw materials and food,” the announcement notes.
The Russian government points out that Ukraine has periodically placed sanction restrictions both on Russian physical and legal entities and on specific Russian goods.
“Since the introduction of measures banning the import from Russia of individual types of agricultural goods, the Ukrainian sanction list has been expanded to 18 types of products, including agro-industrial products, products of the chemical complex, slate, and cement clinker,” the announcement states.
These sanctions can be repealed if Ukraine withdraws its own restrictive measures that it has placed previously on specific Russian goods, the Russian government notes.
The list of banned goods includes wheat, sunflower oil, prepared or tinned fish, sturgeon caviar, pastries, chocolate, bread, tinned fruits and vegetables, fruit and vegetable juices, beer and wine.
It also affects pebbles, gravel, road metal, detergents, paper and cardboard, wallpaper, furniture with built-in refrigeration or freezing equipment, wires and cables, tractors and trailers, as well as diapers and nappies and women’s hygiene pads and tampons.
The decree was enacted by the Russian Ministry of Economic Development in accordance with the presidential edict of October 22, 2018, “On the use of special economic measures in connection with the hostile actions of Ukraine against Russian citizens and legal entities.”
The imports affected by the new ban are estimated at $510 million according the Ministry of Economic Development.
“The importation of sanctioned goods (additionally banned in 2018) from Ukraine to Russia for 2018 amounts, according to provisional estimates, to roughly $510 million,” the ministry stated in its press release.
The department also noted that Russia’s total imports from Ukraine in 2017 amounted to $4.91 billion.
In January 2016, the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers placed a ban on importing a number of Russian goods. On December 20, 2017, the decree was extended until 2019.