Euractiv: EU lifts ban on imports of Russian sable pelts

The European Union has removed a recently introduced ban on imports of luxury Russian sable pelts, allowing trade in one of the world’s most expensive fur products to resume.

The exemption was included in the EU’s latest sanctions package against Russia, agreed last week. The European Commission said the measure was necessary because Russia dominates the global sable market, leaving European fur manufacturers with few alternative suppliers, Euractiv reports.

“Apparently, it’s very difficult to get them anywhere else,” a senior EU official said.

Italy and Greece, the two main EU buyers of Russian sable pelts, pushed for the exemption, an EU diplomat told Euractiv.

According to the Soyuzpushnina auction house, companies from Greece and Italy remain among the leading international buyers of Russian sable pelts, alongside buyers from China and Russia.

Sable is considered one of the world’s most expensive furs, with coats made from the material sometimes selling for six-figure sums.

However, finished fur products remain banned from import into the EU and export to Russia under luxury-goods sanctions imposed in 2022. That year, fur manufacturers in Greece opposed the measures, warning that they would be a “death sentence” for the industry.

By Sabina Mammadli