Russia’s Economy Minister Thursday announced that Russia plans to ban the production and sale of incandescent light bulb from Jan. 1, 2014, in a move designed to reduce energy consumption, according to an article on Reuters.

Economy Minister Elvira Nabiullina told a news conference production and sale of incandescent bulbs with a power rating of more than 100 watts would be banned from Jan. 1, 2011, according to the report. And incandescent bulbs with a power rating of more than 75 watts will be banned from Jan. 1, 2013.

The ban mirrors European Union’s plan to phase out incandescent bulbs by 2012. European households are already switching to more efficient halogen, LED and fluorescent CFL lamps.

"As far as the second and third stages are concerned, the targets for 2013 and 2014, these will not be fixed rigidly in law," senior Kremlin economic aide Arkady Dvorkovich said at the same briefing.