The European Union will ban the supply of toilet bowls to Russia. The products were included in a 146-page list of goods that will no longer be exported to Russia under the tenth package of EU sanctions. This is reported by EUobserver with reference to the draft of a new sanctions package.
The list includes bidets, toilets, cistern flushes “and similar plumbing,” as well as LEDs, hemp yarn, forklifts, mail sorters, chimneys, bricks, tires, and even “pen nibs.”
It is noted that the main goal of the trade embargo worth €11 billion a year is to stop the sale of high-tech goods that can be used in Russian weapons systems. This part of the sanctions package includes electronics, lasers, radio equipment, software, avionics, marine cameras and rare earth minerals.
In addition, the ban covers “riot or riot control water cannon systems”, “fixed or mounted electric shock weapons that cover a large area and can shock multiple people”, and “fixed equipment for the distribution of paralyzing or irritating chemicals”. ".
The new package also affects pyrotechnics, including stage ones: it will be prohibited to export to the Russian Federation "pyrotechnic devices intended exclusively for commercial purposes." The assets of about 130 Russians will also be frozen, they will no longer be issued visas. According to EU diplomats, these are mainly Russian propagandists, as well as politicians, military leaders and civil servants.
In addition, broadcasting of RT Arabic and Sputnik Arabic, which are part of the Rossiya Segodnya MIA holding, will be banned. Four banks will be disconnected from SWIFT: Alfa-Bank, Tinkoff Bank and Rosbank.
It is assumed that the new sanctions package will be adopted by the anniversary of Russia's invasion of Ukraine - February 24.
What's with the toilets in Russia
At the time of 2021, the share of imported sanitary ware in Russia amounted to 15%. The country has its own production, but it is highly dependent on materials, which are mostly imported, including those from Ukraine. For example, a material called slip was purchased there, which includes kaolin (white clay), quartz and feldspar. On the territory of Russia there are deposits of kaolin, it is being mined. But so far it cannot meet the needs of manufacturers.
Therefore, most likely, we should expect an even greater increase in prices for plumbing, which began already in 2022. As Igor Georgi, chairman of the Association of Sanitary Ware Manufacturers and Suppliers, noted at the time, with the outbreak of war, manufacturers began to look for suppliers within the country:
“They are, but due to the sharply increased demand, logistical problems arise - the need for an urgent increase in production, the throughput of railway junctions and the number of wagons for bulk raw materials. These issues can be solved, but it takes time to solve them, so some factories (primarily those that used exclusively foreign raw materials) are forced to reduce production volumes.”