Council of the European Union 21 July approved The seventh package of sanctions against Russia, including a partial ban on gold imports. At the same time, within the framework of the new package, European authorities adjusted restrictions on the supply of certain goods and the provision of services to the Russian aviation industry.
As stated in the Council of Europe’s statement, such tolerances are associated with international ICAO aviation safety standards. “Russian technical assistance for aviation goods and technologies will be permitted to the extent necessary to enable work on the establishment of technical industrial standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization,” the CoE said.
In addition, the ban on making any deals with Russian state institutions will be “slightly loosened”. The EU will also make exceptions for transactions with agricultural products. “The EU is determined to refrain from any measures that could lead to a reduction in food security levels worldwide. None of the measures taken today or in the past due to Russia’s actions aimed at destabilizing the situation in Ukraine in any way relates to trade in agricultural products and food, including wheat and fertilizers, between Russia and third countries.
Nor will the restrictions prevent third-country and non-EU citizens from purchasing Russian medicines and medical devices.
“The EU strongly supports Ukraine and will continue to provide substantial support to Ukraine’s overall economic, military, social and financial stability, including humanitarian assistance,” the European Council said.
Boeing 737 MAX will return
Return to Russia soon able to fly Airplane model Boeing 737 MAX, Aviation Information Center has already issued a notice (NOTAM). The aviation authorities of the Russian Federation have not officially announced the lifting of the ban on the flights of aircraft. The press service of the Ministry of Transport and Communications reported yesterday that Russia has allowed Belarusian companies to operate Boeing 737 MAX flights in its airspace.
At the same time, the ban is lifted only for companies from “friendly” countries; Still in effect for carriers from “unfriendly countries”.
Flights of the Boeing 737 Max began to be banned worldwide after two major crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia just five months apart – in 2018 and 2019. After a long investigation, the company admitted that the cause of the crash was the incorrect operation of the forcibly changing the position of the aircraft stabilizer utility (MCAS).
As a result, the program was changed, and in November 2020, Boeing 737 Max aircraft were allowed to fly again in the USA, and a little later – in the EU. In Russia, the ship was not recertified.
According to Flightradar service, the Boeing 737 Max is in the fleets of Turkish Airlines, SCAT from Kazakhstan, Belavia from Belarus and others. After the NOTAM was published, the Belavia plane had flown over Russian territory the day before. Liner performed the Minsk-Tbilisi flight.
Sanctions against the aviation industry
Following the start of Russia’s special operation in Ukraine, the EU banned the sale of aircraft, spare parts and equipment to Russian air carriers. European companies were also banned from providing insurance and maintenance services. In addition, European countries, Canada and the United States almost immediately closed their airspace to Russian aircraft.
In early March, the American Boeing suspended the supply of spare parts and maintenance of its aircraft from Russian airlines. Soon the same measures were taken by the European aircraft giant Airbus.
21 Russian airlines, including the largest Aeroflot, Rossiya, Pobeda, Ural Airlines and Utair, are included in the EU air security blacklist.
According to the Ministry of Transport at the beginning of March, Russian airlines operated 1,367 aircraft, more than half of which were registered in foreign registers – 739. Russia has already transferred them to the domestic aviation register.