Rubber products ban part of new EU sanctions on Russia

Brussels - The European Union has announced an extended imports ban, including on rubber products, within its fifth package of restrictive measures against Russia.

The additional import bans cover cement, rubber products, wood, spirits, liquor and seafood, as well as an anti-circumvention measure against potash imports from Belarus.

As defined by the EU list, ’rubber products’ encompasses a wide range of items, including tires and industrial goods.

Together these measures cover trade worth €5.5 billion and “will also help to close loopholes between Russia and Belarus,” said a European Commission statement issued 8 April.

An annex in the EU document further includes a wide range of synthetic rubbers and compound ingredients among materials to be prohibited from "sale, supply, transfer or export" to Russia.

Furthermore, the latest package bans imports of Russian coal, access to Russian and Belarusian freight road operators and entry of Russian-flagged vessels to the EU.

The EU has also applied targeted bans on the export of products to Russia, covering quantum computing, advanced semiconductors, sensitive machinery, transportation and chemicals.

“Together with the four previous packages, these sanctions will further contribute to ramping up economic pressure on the Kremlin and cripple its ability to finance its invasion of Ukraine,” said the EC.