Belarus has banned the import of Skoda and Nivea

Belarus has also banned the import of products from the German company Liqui Moly, which offers motor oils, and Beiersdorf, the owner of a number of cosmetic brands, including Nivey. The government explained the move by the need to safeguard national interests and said the cabinet had taken a decision taking into account "hostile action against the Belarusian people." Finally, World Cup 2021 will take place from May 21 to June 6 only in Latvia. The main points of the published regulation will enter into force ten days after the official publication of the document and the list of prohibited products will be valid for six months, the government specified. If the Belarussian authorities detect prohibited products on import, they shall order their return. Persons who would sell these products in shopping centers, markets, trade fairs, exhibitions or on the Internet will be ordered to terminate their activities, the document specifies. However, the prohibition shall not apply to the situation where the products are brought for own consumption by citizens of Belarus and to means of transport registered in the Member States of the Eurasian Economic Union, as well as means of transport "temporarily imported" into the customs territory of the Eurasian Economic Union. This year's World Cup was to be hosted jointly by the Belarusian metropolis of Minsk and the Latvian capital Riga from May 21 to June 6. In Belarus, however, after last year's re-election of Alexander Lukashenko to the presidency in elections that the opposition of his autocratic regime calls rigged, mass protests erupted. Lukashenko is accused by his critics of their violent repression.