The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, presented her proposal regarding the 21st EU sanctions package against Russia, targeting key sectors such as energy, financial services, trade, and fishing
“For the first time, we propose a ban on entry into the European Union for anyone who has participated in the invasion of Ukraine,” declared Ursula von der Leyen.
The EU also wants to suspend the mechanism that until now allowed the price of crude oil exported by Russia to be kept about 15% lower than the market price. This cap, decided by the G7 countries, applies to all intermediaries who want to export crude oil, notes wall-street.ro. But to avoid a too rigid system, in January it was decided to add an automatic adjustment mechanism.
The new package of sanctions, which must be adopted by the EU Council to come into effect, will target another 30 ships that assist Russia’s phantom fleet. Currently, over 630 ships are subject to European restrictions.
Also, the new sanctions will target Russian commercial banks, companies that trade cryptocurrency, as well as 14 Chinese enterprises on the list of companies prohibited from conducting trade with EU countries.
Brussels also wants to reduce the export of certain metals and products necessary for Putin’s military industry and to ban the import of fish products, especially cod, from the Russian Federation.
The restrictive measures will also target companies from Belarus, used by the Russians to circumvent the sanctions imposed by the EU.