Filenews 15 March 2022
The European Union on Tuesday formally approved a new set of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, which include bans on investment in the Russian energy industry, luxury goods exports and imports of steel products from Russia, the Reuters agency reported.
The sanctions, which come into effect after they were published in the EU's official newspaper later on Tuesday, also freeze the assets of more businessmen who support the Russian state, including Chelsea football club owner Roman Abramovich.
The Commission said in a statement on Tuesday that the sanctions include an "extended ban on new investments in the entire Russian energy sector"."
This decision will simplify the major Russian oil companies Rosneft, Transneft and Gazprom, but EU members will still be able to buy oil and gas from them, an EU source told Reuters.
There will also be a complete ban on transactions with some Russian state-owned enterprises linked to the military-industrial sector, the Commission said.
The EU reached a preliminary agreement on the new sanctions on Monday and no objections were raised. The ban on Russian steel imports is estimated to affect products worth €3.3 billion, the Commission said.
Also, EU companies will no longer be allowed to export luxury goods worth more than €300, including jewellery. Exports of cars costing more than €50,000 will also be banned, EU sources said.
The sanctions also prohibit EU credit rating agencies from issuing ratings for Russia and Russian companies, which the Commission says will further limit their access to European financial markets.
The latest sanctions follow three previous rounds of sanctions that included the freezing of assets of the Russian central bank and the exclusion from the SWIFT banking system of certain Russian and Belarusian banks.
The EU also agreed on Tuesday to strip Russia of its "most-favoured-nation" trade regime, opening the door to higher tariffs on Russian products or full import bans.
Hungary on new sanctions against Russia
The latest package of sanctions, decided by the European Union against Russia, does not affect Hungary's energy supplies, and the MOL oil and gas group can also continue producing crude in Russia, Hungary's foreign minister argued today.
In a video posted on Facebook, Peter Siyarto says it is important for the Hungarian government to maintain European unity in sanctions, but adds that "we have a red line, which is the security of Hungarian energy supplies."
Source: Capital.gr
