Zeebrugge Port

One of the EU sanctions imposed on Russia is a luxury ban in mid-March. One of its implications is that the sale of EU-made vehicles over 50,000 Euros is banned in Russia. The Port of Zeebrugge, one of the most important Roll –on-Roll-off (ro-ro) ports, through which a lot of luxury cars make their way to Russia. An increasing number of luxury cars are getting stranded in Zeebrugge as the port is not forwarding these shipments.

Since the imposition of the ban, Zebrugge has received around 8,000 luxury cars for transshipment to Russia. Even though these cars were not made in the EU, the vehicles are currently in Europe. The local ports are not sure how to correctly interpret and enforce these sanctions. Marc Adriansens, Director of the port’s International Car operators terminal, said that they received instructions from customs officials stating that the cars could not leave the area.

The Russian market for luxury cars is modest. A Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, Michael Dean, states that there is a backlog for the premium brands in other world places. Hence the manufacturers would not face a loss, and these cars would likely be routed to other markets.

Source: FleetMon