End of the journey to the West for Russian carriers

April 11, 2022 at 1:37 PM , Der AUDITOR
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BRUSSELS. As part of the fifth major sanctions package against Russia, carriers from Russia and Belarus have been banned from crossing EU borders since Saturday. This is intended to hit the Russian economy even harder. However, there are some exceptions for the time being.

No Russian ships and trucks on EU territory

The European Union (EU) has launched the fifth major package of sanctions against Russia - all 27 member states had given their consent. The main impact is on freight transport, both by road and by sea; in principle, Russian and Belarusian container ships and trucks have been banned from entering the EU since Saturday. But there are exceptions.

Agricultural products exempted

For example, the Polish news site Auto Swiat, citing the Ministry of Infrastructure, reports that the ban does not apply to imports of natural gas and crude oil, various metals, pharmaceutical and medical products, agricultural products and foodstuffs such as wheat as well as fertilisers with a corresponding licence, among others. It should be noted that Russian and Belarusian shipping companies and ship operators are affected by the bans, but according to the Central Association of German Seaport Operators (Zentralverband der Deutschen Seehafenbetriebe; ZDS), a large part of the maritime traffic between Germany and Russia is handled by non-Russian ships, as the ZDS announced to transport-online.de, among others. More detailed information is to be published in the Official Journal of the European Union in the near future.

How will Russia react?

Trucks of Russian and Belarusian hauliers already in the EU are required to have left the EU by the end of the transition period on 16 April. The Polish ministry warns that Russia could impose a similar ban on transports from the EU and advises drivers from Poland to leave the country as soon as possible.

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