A Ukrainian economic watchdog has urged the European Union to sanction exports of raw glycerin to Russia after a Kyiv Independent investigation found that European suppliers continued shipping the chemical, which can be used to produce explosives, to companies connected to Russia's military industrial complex.
The recommendation was submitted on March 11 by the Economic Security Council of Ukraine, or ESCU, an independent Kyiv-based organization that said it based its proposal on the Kyiv Independent's findings.
Discussing the council's findings, Roman Steblivskyi, director of policy and advocacy at ESCU, said the EU's current sanctions approach leaves gaps for dual-use goods with military applications like glycerin.
"While these items have clear civilian applications, their potential military utility should carry greater weight in the design of sanctions regimes. And the supply networks, connected to the Russian military, should also appear on the European black lists," he said.
The Kyiv Independent and OSINT for Ukraine previously found that EU subsidiaries of Russia’s Delfin Group, a petrochemical manufacturer, may have continued exporting raw glycerin to Russia even after the EU sanctioned refined glycerin, despite its potential military uses.
