Cabinet extends duties on Russian goods for a year

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has extended the maximum rates of duty on the import of Russian goods into Ukraine for another year. The resolution was adopted at a government meeting on Wednesday, November 25.

The document extends until December 31, 2021 the application of preferential import duty rates established by the Customs Tariff of Ukraine (raised to the level of the WTO most favored nation rates) in relation to the import of goods, the country of origin of which is Russia.

The explanatory note to the draft resolution states that from January 1, 2016, Russia unilaterally terminated the Agreement on a free trade zone within the CIS in relation to Ukraine, in connection with which the import customs duty is applied to goods of Ukrainian origin in the amount of the rates of the Common customs tariff of the Eurasian Economic Union (CCT EEU).

Also, since August 2014, the import of agricultural products from Ukraine has been prohibited on the territory of Russia, and since June 1, 2019, a permissive system for the export of certain goods to Ukraine has been introduced according to the approved list.

“These actions on the part of the Russian Federation damage the interests of national economic security, economic interests of Ukraine and the legitimate interests of subjects of foreign economic activity, and contain signs of discriminatory actions against Ukraine in the field of trade,” the Cabinet of Ministers explained.