Syed Rahman summarises the key points
Banking, media, shipping and aluminium are some of the main features of the European Union’s (EU’s) latest sanctions package imposed on Russia.
The package, which is the EU’s 16th against Russia, has been adopted on the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Its measures include:
- The blocking of 74 oil tankers that have been identified as being part of the “shadow fleet” used by Russia to export sanctioned oil.
- Measures against 53 companies that will see them subject to tighter restrictions on the export of dual-use goods and technologies as well as goods and technologies that could contribute to the technological improvement of Russia’s defence and security sector. A third of these companies are Russian, with others based in China (including Hong Kong), India, Kazakhstan, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, and Uzbekistan. They have been involved in the circumvention of trade restrictions or engaged in providing needed sensitive items.
- The first-ever EU transaction ban on credit or financial institutions established outside Russia that use the ‘financial message transfer system’ (SPFS) of the Central Bank of Russia. SPFS was developed by the Central Bank of Russia to reduce the effect of restrictive measures.
- The suspension of the EU broadcasting licences of eight media outlets accused of promoting Kremlin propaganda: EADaily / Eurasia Daily, Fondsk, Lenta, NewsFront, RuBaltic, SouthFront, Strategic Culture Foundation, and Krasnaya Zvezda / Tvzvezda.
- A phased ban on importing certain aluminium products from Russia; which extends the scope of an earlier prohibition.
This latest package also introduces extra restrictions on exports of goods and technologies, particularly software related to oil and gas exploration, in order to hamper Russia’s exploration and production capacities. It bans the provision of temporary storage for Russian crude oil and petroleum products within the EU.
The package also strengthens the existing ban on Russian road freight transport in the EU. It prohibits changes to the capital structure of any EU road transport company that would increase the percentage share in it owned by a Russian natural or legal person to above 25%.
