A British company decided to punish Crimean disabled people
The largest European supplier of batteries for hearing aids, the British company Rayovac Micropower Batteries, demanded guarantees from its potential customers in Russia that these products would not be supplied to Crimea.
Izvestia writes about this, citing the management of one of Russia’s leading companies in the field of wholesale procurement of medical equipment.
It is noted that initially negotiations on the supply of about 2 million batteries for hearing aids to the Russian Federation proceeded as usual, but at the last moment a new condition was voiced: not to sell Rayovac batteries in Crimea.
“The market is a monopoly, so they dictate the terms they want. But no one can give such guarantees, this is understandable. Firstly, this is an incorrect requirement, since people with hearing disabilities have nothing to do with the sanctions policy. Secondly, the Crimean Bridge is open, people carry whatever they see fit across it,” a representative of the Russian company told the publication, adding that after their refusal to agree to this condition, the negotiations came to naught.
Mariusz Zimny, manager of sales in Eastern Europe for Rayovac Micropower Batteries, whom journalists contacted for clarification, thanked for the request, but said that the company “refuses to comment on this topic.”
The All-Russian Society of the Deaf (VOG) recognized that the problem exists.
“Some foreign suppliers, and not only in the case of batteries for hearing aids, set such conditions, but this is unofficial,” said Alexander Ivanov, head of the VOG rehabilitation department.
In turn, the permanent representative of the Republic of Crimea to the President of Russia, Georgy Muradov, is convinced that such preconditions put forward by some Western companies are completely contrary to both international law and universal ethical standards.
“This is far from the only case. Similar bans apply to a number of goods produced in the West. Remember, for example, the scandal with the supply of turbines to Crimea from our Power Machines plant, where Siemens has a large share of shares. If they are trying to deprive people of heat and light, and now also of medical equipment, this all has signs of genocide. This is all directed against the population of Crimea and the humanitarian rights of its inhabitants,” Muradov emphasized.
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