New Russia sanctions: EU limits oil exports and financial transactions!

New Russia sanctions: EU limits oil exports and financial transactions!

The European Union has today adopted a new sanction package against Russia, which is intended in response to the ongoing war of attack against Ukraine. In Brussels, the representatives of the Member States agreed on the 18th sanction package after weeks of negotiations from Slovakia were blocked. The Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico had delayed an agreement with a veto threat, but was convinced by assurances that his country does not have to fear any serious economic consequences if all imports of Russian gas were to be stopped.

The main goal of the new sanctions is to reduce Russian income from oil export in third countries and the damage to the Russian financial sector. The measures aim to rule out the restart of the controversial gas pipelines north stream 1 and 2; Remarkably, three out of four pipelines tubes were destroyed to Germany at the attack in September 2022. The oil price lid, which is now located at $ 47.60 per barrel and is dynamically adapted, should also help to press the Russian income. This is a decrease of $ 60.

Important details of the sanction package

• an import ban for refined products from Russian crude oil.
• prohibition of financial transactions with companies from third countries who try to avoid oil-related sanctions.
• List of more than 100 ships of the Russian shadow fleet that are no longer allowed to run in EU ports.
• decoupling 22 banks from the Swift financial communication system, which means that their transaction options are severely restricted.
• Introduction of further export restrictions for great technologies that can be used in the military-industrial area.

In addition, the list of sanctioned individuals, companies and organizations has been expanded by more than 50 entries, so that a total of over 2,500 entries are now counted. The EU member states are disagreed with the actual effectiveness of these sanctions. Critics believe that they will have no significant influence on Russian politics, while supporters see a considerable economic pressure on Russia.

A striking element of the new sanctions is the ban on European companies to offer Services in connection with North Stream projects. This is to prevent Russia from being able to abuse its energy infrastructure for unfair goals. At the political level, the need to combat "sanction fatigue" and to maintain the unity within Europe is also emphasized.

In this context, Tagesspiegel has announced further details on the measures while [Watson] (https://www.watson.ch/international/russland/317123427-eu-verhaengt-neue-Russland-sanctions--wurde- [iede.news] (https://iede.news/de/europaische-kommission/weitere-eu-sankions- against-russland-nord-stream-berbot-und--mit-olexporten/) examine the discussions about the effectiveness and the economic effects of the sanctions. The formal ministerial council resolutions are planned for today, so that the sanctions will come into force a little later.