As part of a fourth round of sanctions against Russia, the EU will ban the sale of luxury goods and certain-class cars to Russia for more than 300 euros, as well as the purchase of Russian steel products, according to a draft obtained by Bloomberg.
After days of closed-door debate, EU diplomats introduced stricter measures on March 14, which are expected to be formally adopted as early as the morning of March 15 local time.
The new measures include not only a ban on investment in new energy projects in Russia, but also a ban on the sale of luxury cars, ships and aircraft with a price of more than 50,000 euros to Russia. the move will involve a variety of European car brands such as Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari and Porsche. In addition, the new measures also cover motorcycles and accessories priced above 5000 euros and prohibit Russia from obtaining credit rating services.
At the same time the new sanctions programme does include exemptions in a number of areas particularly those related to energy and metals. For example, the EU will not ban the purchase or transportation of Russian fossil fuels, nor will titanium, aluminum, copper, nickel, palladium and iron ore. Although the sanctions include most Russian steel products, they do not include slates and billets.
According to Bloomberg calculations based on data from the International Trade Center, the EU's export ban includes nearly 400 export categories, worth about $25 billion a year. The EU's most valuable exports include cars and parts, computers, machinery, smartphones, cosmetics, women's wear, wine and so on.
In fact, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Porsche and Audi's parent company Volkswagen announced earlier this month that they would stop exporting cars to Russia.
