Russia responds to sanctions, bans transfer of imported tech, goods till 2023

Russia on Thursday announced that goods and equipment previously imported into the country from abroad would be prohibited from leaving the country until 2023, in a response to Western sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine.

According to the official statement released by the Russian government, the decision to ban the movement of said goods and equipment out of Russia was signed by President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

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More than 200 items are on the list, including, “technological, telecommunications, medical equipment, vehicles, agricultural machinery, electrical equipment,” as well as, “railway cars and locomotives, containers, turbines, metal and stone processing machines, monitors, projectors, consoles and panels.”

“The export of these goods is temporarily limited to all foreign countries, with the exception of the states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), Abkhazia, and South Ossetia,” the Russian government said, naming the exceptions to the blanket bad.

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“This measure is necessary to ensure stability in the Russian market,” the Russian government added, saying that the ban would be in place at least until the end of 2022.

The decision to stop the movement of the aforementioned goods come on the back of an intensifying global backlash against Russia over Moscow’s decision to invade Ukraine.

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Since the invasion began on February 24, Russia has faced tremendous cultural backlash, while sporting bodies such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC), FIFA and UEFA, and FormulaOne have all cancelled events in Russia and banned Russian teams and atheletes.

On the economic front, Russia has also been subjected to a slew of sanctions to starve it of resources, while global companies operating in the country have announced a mass exodus.