Russia bans export of 200 products to hit back at Western sanctions

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia has hit back at western sanctions for invading Ukraine by imposing export bans on a string of products until the end of 2022, the BBC reports.

The ban covers exports of telecoms, medical, vehicle, agricultural, and electrical equipment, as well as some forestry products such as timber.

The economy ministry said further measures could include restricting foreign ships from Russian ports. It said: "These measures are a logical response to those imposed on Russia."

The export ban includes more than 200 products. The measures will last until the end of the year.

Western governments have imposed a string of sanctions on Russia, notably on buying oil, and against billionaire oligarchs seen as close to President Vladimir Putin.

About 48 countries will be affected, including the US and in the EU.

The order said that export exemptions can be made for Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and for members of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union.

Russia's Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said the ban would include exports of goods made by foreign companies operating in Russia. Items include cars, railway carriages, and containers.

It comes as Russia's former president Dmitry Medvedev warned that assets owned by western companies that have pulled out of Russia could be nationalised.

Firms have been leaving en masse or halting investment, including industrial and mining giants such as Caterpillar and Rio Tinto, Starbucks, Sony, Unilever and Goldman Sachs.