EU amends Russia prohibitions in respect of ExoMars 2020 mission

The EU prohibitions on Russia (see Article 2 of Council Decision 2014/512/CFSP and Article 4 of Council Regulation (EU) 833/2014) have been amended to permit the provision (directly or indirectly) of “technical assistance, financing or financial assistance” related to the sale, supply, transfer or export and the import, purchase or transport of hydrazine in concentrations of 70% or more, provided that that “technical assistance, financing or financial assistance” refers to hydrazine destined for: (i) the tests and flight of the ExoMars descent module, in the framework of the ExoMars 2020 mission; or (ii) the flight of the ExoMars carrier module, in the framework of the ExoMars 2020 mission. See: Council Decision (CFSP) 2017/2214 and Council Regulation (EU) 2017/2212.