The Russian government has banned government purchases of imported masks until 2022

The Russian government, by its decree , banned state purchases of foreign medical masks until December 31, 2021.

Medical masks have been included in the list of foreign-made industrial products that are prohibited from being purchased. The list also includes self-contained breathing apparatus, fire-resistant protective clothing and textile headgear.

The ban came into force on the day the government decree was published, December 25.

In April, the government banned state customers from purchasing certain types of imported industrial products. The introduced ban does not apply to products from the EAEU countries.

• In November, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation proposed to ban government purchases of imported masks, as Russian enterprises increased their production from 600,000 to 21 million pieces per day during the year. The number of manufacturers during this time has grown from 26 to 85. According to the ministry, on average, Russian residents and organizations use 10.8 million masks per day.