{
  "id": 15618821,
  "title": "EU paid Russia 682 million euros for steel in eight months, with slab loophole keeping money flowing, and big consumers lobbying to keep it open — analysis",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/19/eu-paid-russia-682-million-euros-for-steel-in-eight-months-with-slab",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-19T14:20:38.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Euromaidan Press",
    "slug": "euromaidan-press",
    "url": "https://euromaidanpress.com/2026/10/19/eu-paid-russia-682-million-euros-for-steel-in-eight-months-with-slab-loophole-keeping-money-flowing-and-big-consumers-lobbying-to-keep-it-open-analysis/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "For the first eight months of 2026, the EU imported 1.6 million tons of Russian steel products worth 682 million euros, down 54% in value compared to the previous year, according to GMK Center, a Ukrainian consulting company. The report, based on Eurostat data, revealed that the ban on Russian pig iron and direct-reduced iron (DRI) has had limited impact on imports, with semi-finished steel, primarily slabs, accounting for 97.8% of the 1.56 million tons imported. Belgium and Italy were the largest consumers, importing nearly half of the EU total, with 767,700 and 191,800 tons respectively. Despite a slab quota for the year to September 2026 standing at nearly 3 million tons, the import volume dropped by 55% year on year after the ban on Russian pig iron and DRI came into effect on January 1, 2026. Scrap was the only other notable inflow, at 41,300 tons worth 11.7 million euros. The EU has banned most Russian steel imports, including pig iron, DRI, iron ore, and ferroalloys, due to the ongoing war on Ukraine. However, the slab loophole remains open, with the largest consumer countries lobbying against early closure of the quota. The EU has paid Russia €317 billion in goods since February 2022, which is €116 billion more than the €201 billion in financial aid extended to Ukraine over the same period.",
  "summary": "Bans cut most Russian metal, but an exemption lets slabs reach Belgium and Italy until 2028.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}