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Russia is ready to impose restrictions to protect metallurgy companies — Deputy PM

On April 6, the US authorities announced imposition of sanctions against a number of Russian officials, businessmen and companies

KRASNOYARSK, April 13. /TASS/. The Russian government is ready to introduce counter restrictions to maintain the volume of metallurgical production in the country after the introduction of the US sanctions, Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich told journalists on the sidelines of the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum.

"There is no single answer to this question (how the import, export and domestic production of metallurgical companies affected by the US sanctions will change - TASS), all this will happen. Of course, we will do everything to avoid decline in domestic production and to ensure its growth," he said.

According to the Deputy Prime Minister, the government will do everything possible to maintain and to increase its own industrial production.

"In particular, we will use certain restrictive measures against those countries that have imposed sanctions on us to reduce supplies from them, if we do not need them, if we have our capacities. We will boost production on our own facilities. The work is going on, we consider every specific product, every position. Several departments are involved but the work is led by the Industry and Trade Ministry," he stressed.

On April 6, the US authorities announced imposition of sanctions against a number of Russian officials, businessmen and companies.

The Russian businessmen who were placed on the new US restrictions list include Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller, VTB head Andrei Kostin, owner of Renova Viktor Vekselberg, Surgutneftegaz CEO Vladimir Bogdanov, Sibur board member Kirill Shamalov, and businessmen Igor Rotenberg, Oleg Deripaska and Suleiman Kerimov.

Among the companies slapped with the latest sanctions are several enterprises belonging to Oleg Deripaska, in particular Rusal aluminum producer.

The sanctions in particular envisage restrictions on trade and as a result the markets of the EU and US are closed for Russian aluminum.

In March, US President Donald Trump slapped import duties on steel and aluminum (25% and 10% respectively), which came into force on March 23. However, until May 1, these tariffs won’t be applied to products from Canada, Mexico, the European Union, Australia, Argentina, Brazil and South Korea.

Many countries including Russia have already promised a symmetrical response to the United States and declared their intention to challenge the US tariffs in the WTO.

According to the Industry and Trade Ministry, Russian metal producers may suffer losses to the tune of at least $3 bln because of the US customs duties.