Switzerland bans aluminium imports from Russia and Belarus

Switzerland tightens its grip on Russian and Belarusian aluminium Keystone-SDA

Switzerland has banned imports of aluminium from Russia and Belarus.

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The sale and import of Russian aluminium in unwrought form is banned from Thursday, the government said in a statement. The import of Belarusian aluminium is also banned, while export restrictions have also been tightened.

The aim is to apply uniform sanctions in order to prevent circumvention of those against Russia, the government said.

+ Switzerland adopts further EU sanctions against Russia

Switzerland is following the 16th package of sanctions decided by the EU at the beginning of the year, after adopting the first part in March.

When the European sanctions were announced, Marcel Menet, president of the Swiss Aluminium Association, pointed out that similar measures had already been taken at the start of the war three years ago. But Russian materials are stil transiting via other countries, such as Turkey, he said.

Switzerland has also adopted other sanctions against Russia. Chromium ores, for example, can no longer be exported because of their military use. The same applies to oil and gas exploration software.

Translated from French by DeepL/mga

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