Ukraine needs to impose a ban on the import of steel products made from Russian raw materials

The Ukrmetallurgprom Association of Enterprises has submitted proposals to the Ministry of Economy to ban the import into Ukraine of steel products manufactured using raw materials of Russian origin. However, these initiatives have not yet been implemented.

This was stated by Oleksandr Kalenkov, President of the Ukrmetallurgprom Association, during his speech at the conference “Trade Wars: The Art of Defense,” organized by the law firm Ilyashev & Partners.

The proposed ban fully aligns with the European “melt and pour” practice, which has been successfully in effect in the EU since September 2023 and prevents products made from Russian raw materials from entering the EU market.

“I don’t understand why this effective mechanism cannot be applied in Ukraine as well. We are currently facing a very ambiguous situation, as most European steelmakers, as a matter of principle, do not purchase steel raw materials produced from Russian products, even though they are permitted to import slabs that are not banned,” emphasized Oleksandr Kalenkov.

In the near future, Ukrmetallurgprom plans to appeal to the ministry again. The association will insist on the implementation of a mechanism to verify the origin of steel products at Ukraine’s border, similar to the practice in the European Union.

As a reminder, in the winter of 2026, the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade supported a ban on steel products from Russia and Belarus as part of a package of protective measures proposed by the European Commission, which would cut steel import quotas into the bloc by half. In the final version of the measures, the exemption for Russian slabs will not be extended.