President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree extending specific economic measures against countries that imposed sanctions against Russia until December 31, 2020.

Axar.az reports citing foreign media that the document has been published on the official portal of legal information.

The president has instructed the government to take steps for the implementation of the decree and, if necessary, to submit proposals for changing the duration of these counter sanctions.

Putin also signed an additional document, which changes the norms of the original decree on counter-sanctions dated August 6, 2014.

In particular, the new document allows for the transit shipments of sanctioned goods through Russia on the condition that these goods are "subject to ensuring their traceability by using a control system based on GLONASS technology". It is also required that such goods must be sealed, and the drivers involved in the transit of this cargo must have the appropriate registration coupons.

The decree now also envisages permission for the import of sanctioned goods by individuals for personal use.

Similar amendments have been made to the decree of October 22, 2018, on counter-sanctions against Ukraine.

Sanctions and counter measures

In March 2014, the European Union and a number of countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, Switzerland, New Zealand, Iceland, and others, began to impose sanctions against Russia over the situation in Ukraine. In particular, the sanctions lists of Russian individuals and legal entities were made. Restrictive measures included a ban on entry, freezing of accounts. Also, so-called sectoral sanctions were introduced: the assets of the companies that came under such sanctions were not frozen, but restrictions were imposed on medium-and long-term lending.

In response, on August 6, 2014, Russian President signed a decree "On imposing separate special economic measures ensuring security for the Russian Federation." The government imposed restrictions on imports of certain goods from the US, the European Union, Norway, Australia and Canada based on the document the following day. Later the list of countries was expanded, and the list of goods was revised.

After the EU countries extended sanctions against Russia on June 22, 2015, on June 24, Putin extended Russia’s countermeasures by another decree for another year. Subsequently, the counter sanctions were extended twice. The last time the restrictions were prolonged on July 12, 2018 until the end of 2019.