The only crematorium in central Russia’s breadbasket region has been forced to shut down due to EU sanctions levied over the invasion of Ukraine, local media reported Tuesday.
The crematorium in the city of Voronezh south of Moscow cannot replace its broken Czech-made cremation oven due to EU restrictions on the export of high-tech goods and technology to Russia, according to the 7×7 news website.
Russian specialists and representatives of the Czech cremation equipment provider, Tabo-CS, are now working to repair the oven but do not know how long it will take, according to the Voronezh-based news website De Facto.
The award-winning crematorium was said to be the only such facility in the hyper-fertile Chernozem, or “Black Earth,” region, which encompasses six west-central regions close to the Ukrainian border.
Tabo CS’ website lists dozens of other Russian cities, including St. Petersburg and Novosibirsk, where its cremation equipment has been installed since the late 1990s.