Russia is exploiting loopholes in sanctions and “unfairly taking market shares from European producers who refuse to sponsor the Russian economy,” Metinvest’s CEO said.
Russia continues to import metal products to EU countries, despite eight packages of sanctions. Yuri Ryzhenkov, CEO of Metinvest Group, said this in an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, the press service of Metinvest reports on Thursday, December 15.
“European importers buy semi-finished products from the Russian Federation at very low prices. And they have an advantage over other producers in the European Union, including Metinvest, who refuse to buy from the Russians. It turns out that “Russia is unfairly taking market shares from European producers who refuse to sponsor the Russian economy. I hope that this penalty loophole will be closed in the next two packages,” he said.
Ryzhenkov added that Belgian and Italian companies have traditionally been the largest importers of Russian steel, while Belgium has a Russian subsidiary that produces steel.
“I would be surprised if they did not use this loophole to import their semi-finished products. But in fact, by removing this loophole, the EU is actually putting honest manufacturers of Europe who do not want to sponsor the invasion, and their players who want to support Ukraine, at a disadvantage. Therefore, we believe that it is better if this loophole is closed,” the head of Metinvest summed up.
Recall that as part of the fourth package of sanctions, the European Union banned the import of integrated steel and pipes from Russia from April 1, 2022. The eighth package of sanctions should expand the restrictions, but only ferrous metals and products made from them were banned, while the restrictions did not affect cast iron and ferroalloys. In addition, new restrictions on steel imports will take effect on September 30, 2023, and on selected steel semi-finished products on April 1 and October 1, 2024.
Earlier, British metallurgists asked the government to close the loophole for steel from the Russian Federation.
The EC announced the ninth package of sanctions against the Russian Federation
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Source: korrespondent
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