Europe plans to significantly complicate the import of Russian fertilizers by raising tariffs and imposing additional sanctions.
Since January 1 of this year, a special carbon levy has been applied to fertilizers imported into the EU. This applies to products produced with significant carbon emissions.
Experts say this levy applies to virtually all Russian fertilizers. This is the first reason why their supply to EU countries is unprofitable.
The second reason is the additional sanctions that the European bloc plans to impose on Russia.
This involves lowering the limit on ammonia imports from Russia. The European Commission proposed this reduction in early February 2026.
However, this initiative is still far from implementation. This is likely because Russia still accounts for about a quarter of fertilizer imports into Europe.
The fact that the EU has not eliminated these supplies in previous years indicates that it is simply unable to do so at this point in time, as it lacks the capacity to fully replace these imports.
But that’s not all. The third obstacle to importing Russian and Belarusian fertilizers into Europe is the tariffs introduced in July 2025.
They are expected to increase sharply. Currently, they are around $45 per ton, but by mid-2028, they are expected to rise to $400-450 per ton.
This measure should encourage European companies to actively seek alternative suppliers. It is highly likely that the next round of tariff increases could occur as early as this year.
However, many experts are concerned that such initiatives will have adverse consequences not so much for Russia as for Europe.
As already stated, Europe is unlikely to be able to eliminate fertilizer supplies from Russia for now.
As for the colossal increase in duties and tariffs, analysts note that they are ultimately borne by the importer, not the exporter, since all these payments are factored into prices.
Therefore, imported Russian fertilizers will be sold within the EU to end consumers at significantly higher prices.
This is precisely what is causing concern among farmer organizations. They warn that a repeat of the 2022 price shock cannot be ruled out: fertilizer prices could lead to higher food costs.
However, we have not yet seen any signs that the EU intends to reconsider its policy.
