EU Council approves 11th package of sanctions against Russia over war in Ukraine

The Council of the European Union has approved the 11th package of economic and personal sanctions against Russia, primarily to strengthen the previously imposed restrictions and combat sanctions circumvention.

Source: Council of the EU, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The EU is stepping up bilateral and multilateral cooperation with third countries and technical assistance to combat sanctions circumvention. Where cooperation fails, the EU plans "rapid, proportionate and targeted action... in the form of appropriate individual measures addressing the involvement of third-country operators in facilitating circumvention".

Should the problem remain significant and systemic after individual measures and further cooperation between the parties, the EU allows for "exceptional, last resort measures" and may restrict the sale, supply, transfer or export of goods and technologies already banned from export to Russia, including those that could be used for warfare, to third countries whose jurisdiction is considered to be at a "continuing and particularly high risk" of being used to circumvent sanctions.

The new sanctions package bans the transit of more goods and technologies through Russia which may be used for military purposes or for the aircraft or space industry, as well as aviation and rocket fuel for goods transported from the EU to third countries.

Some 87 additional entities have been added to the sanctions list for their direct support of the Russian military and industrial complex and will be subject to stricter export restrictions. Among them are four Iranian drone manufacturers that supply drones to Russia, as well as entities from third countries that Russia helps to circumvent trade restrictions, and several Russian entities that produce electronics for the Russian military industry.

The new package expands the list of goods considered to be used by Russia for military purposes. The list includes electronic components, semiconductors, equipment for the production and testing of electronic integrated circuits and printed circuit boards, precursors to energy materials and chemical weapons, components of optical devices and navigation equipment, metals used in the defence industry and marine equipment.

The EU Council has extended the suspension of broadcasting licences to five more media outlets as being directly or indirectly controlled by Russia and used for misleading information: RT Balkan, Oriental Review, Tsargrad, New Eastern Outlook and Katehon.

The EU has also extended the ban on transporting goods to the EU by road using trailers and semi-trailers registered in Russia, even if the carrier truck itself is not registered in the Russian Federation.

Due to fraudulent attempts to circumvent the sanctions by vessels carrying crude oil and petroleum products, access to EU ports and gateways is denied to any vessel carrying crude oil and petroleum products if the relevant authorities have reasonable cause to suspect that the vessel either violates the sanctions on imports of Russian oil and petroleum products to the EU or is carrying Russian crude oil and petroleum products purchased at a price higher than the price cap set by the Price Cap Coalition.

The same restrictions apply to vessels in respect of which the competent authorities have reason to suspect unlawful interference with the navigation system while transporting Russian oil and oil products.

The temporary exemption from sanctions for Germany and Poland to supply crude oil from Russia through the northern section of the Druzhba (Friendship) Pipeline is coming to an end. Meanwhile, it will be possible to pump oil from Kazakhstan and other third countries through this route.

Personal sanctions are also being imposed on a number of individuals and companies.

The relevant acts will soon be published in the EU Official Journal.

Background:

• EU ambassadors have failed to come to an agreement on a new package of sanctions for weeks, with agreement only being reached on 21 June.
• The main reason for the hold-up was that Greece and Hungary protested against Ukraine's inclusion of some of their companies in the list of "war sponsors". Athens and Budapest wanted their companies to be removed from the list.

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