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Ukraine slaps new economic sanctions against Russia

The ban concerns certain types of "industrial goods, mineral fertilizers, agriculture products, transport vehicles, plywood and others"

Ukraine's Prime Minister Vladimir Groisman Mikhail Palinchak Press Office of the President of Ukraine/TASS

Ukraine's Prime Minister Vladimir Groisman

© Mikhail Palinchak Press Office of the President of Ukraine/TASS

KIEV, May 15. /TASS/. Ukraine has imposed new economic sanctions against Russia banning supplies of certain groups of goods and introducing special duties, Prime Minister Vladimir Groisman said at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday.

"Those are tit-for-tat measures - embargo and special duties on Russian goods," he said, adding that the restrictions will apply to those goods that "are fully produced" in Ukraine or may be replaced with alternative supplies.

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The ban concerns certain types of "industrial goods, mineral fertilizers, agriculture products, transport vehicles, plywood and others," First Deputy Prime Minister Stepan Kubiv said, adding that the decision is aimed at preventing the flight of capital, as well as supporting the existing and creating new jobs in Ukraine.

Moreover, Ukraine’s cabinet has imposed special duties on imports of certain goods originated from Russia starting August 1, 2019. According to Kubiv, the amount of those duties will be defined "by the percentage of the customs value."

As a result, the government of Ukraine expects additional budget revenues from those duties of at least 3.7 bln hryvnia ($141.2 mln) already in the second half of 2019.

Russia suspended the free trade zone agreement with Ukraine starting from January 1, 2016, after the economic section of Ukraine’s association agreement with the European Union came into force. Besides, Russia’s embargo on European goods, which had been in place since August 2014, was expanded to include Ukraine in early 2016. It prohibits imports of meat, sausages, fish and shellfish, fruit, vegetables and dairy products from Ukraine. Kiev responded with a ban on imports of goods originated from Russia, which came into force on January 10, 2016.

Ukraine expanded sanctions against Russian imports several times that same year, and prolonged them until 2020 in December 2018.

In April 2019, the Ukrainian government once again expanded trade restrictions against Russia. On April 18, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced countermeasures in response to Kiev’s restrictions.

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