Russia’s countergambit: banning export of imported goods
On 10 March, the Russian government announced that it had ‘approved a list of imported goods and equipment that are temporarily prohibited from being exported from Russia.’
The office of prime minister Mikhail Mishustin said that the decision, effective until the end of 2022, has been adopted ‘as a follow up to the Presidential Executive Order On Application of Special Economic Measures in Foreign Economic Activity to Ensure the Security of the Russian Federation.’
The list ‘includes over 200 products, including technological, telecommunication and medical equipment, vehicles, agricultural machinery, electric equipment, as well as railway cars and locomotives, containers, turbines, metal and stone cutting machines, video displays, projectors, consoles and switchboards.’
According to the Russian government, the measures are necessary to maintain stability on the Russian market; the suspension applies to ‘all countries, excluding member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Abkhazia and South Ossetia.’ It will institute a licensing scheme for exports to the latter states.
The move follows a temporary ban, announced on 6 March under Resolution No. 302, on exports of foreign-made medical products from the country and which ‘concerns the medical products imported from the countries that joined the sanctions and are stored at importers’ depots or undergoing customs clearance.’
The government said the resolution is ‘aimed at preventing shortages of medical products in Russia because of the restrictive sanctions imposed by unfriendly states.’
