Moscow calls EU ban on car, smartphone imports from Russia “mess”

The ban on Russians entering the European Union (EU) in personal cars and with their smartphones and shampoos is a "complete mess".

The remarks came from Ruslan Davydov, the acting head of the Federal Customs Service (FCS), RBC reports.

He considers this decision illegal.

"The stupidity of the Europeans and the total mess of what they are doing. You see, these are goods for personal use. They made a decision to ban trade turnover. Therefore, from the point of view of normal customs logic, their decisions are absolutely illegal," Davydov told RBC on the margins of the WEF.

He recalled that EU countries had frozen customs cooperation with Russia, so "we cannot influence them, at least not with the help of customs”.

The deputy head of the Federal Customs Service expressed hope that Russia "will not commit such lawlessness," as "we are civilized people, unlike them”.

According to Obozrevatel, the European Union (EU) has recently banned residents of Russia from importing cars, smartphones, jewellery, laptops and other things. Russians are now not allowed to import even shampoos into the bloc's territory.

The European Commission confirmed the interpretation of the sanctions legislation against the Russian Federation, according to which the entry into the EU countries on passenger cars registered in Russia is regarded as prohibited imports. This is stated in the document of the EC.

It does not matter whether the vehicle is used for private or commercial purposes, as long as it is registered in Russia, it is subject to sanctions and will be treated as prohibited imports. It is also prohibited to import cosmetics, suitcases, laptops, leather and fur products, semi-precious and precious stones, toilet paper, shampoos and toothpastes.

Earlier, it was reported that Estonia is going to be the first EU country to legalize the confiscation of Russian assets to finance Ukraine's reconstruction. The country's government is already ready to approve the relevant bill and send it to parliament for approval.