The European Union (EU) adopted this Thursday new sanctions against Moscow for the war in Ukraine that include the ban on imports of Russian gold, including jewelry, and the freezing of the assets of the largest Russian bank, Sberbank.
In addition to economic sanctions, the Council (EU countries) decided to list additional individuals and entities and strengthen reporting requirements, placing the burden of declaring assets on sanctioned individuals to facilitate their freezing in the EU, the Council (countries) in a statement.
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The goal is to “tighten existing economic sanctions against Russia, perfect their implementation and strengthen their effectiveness.”
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, valued this Thursday the support of the Twenty-seven for the new sanctions.
“The member states have reached an agreement on the reinforced and prolonged European sanctions against the Kremlin (…) This sends a strong signal to Moscow: we will maintain the pressure as long as necessary,” the head of the Community Executive told through his Twitter account.
For his part, the High Representative for Foreign Policy of the EU, Josep Borrell, pointed out that “today we are taking another important step to reduce Russia’s ability to continue and finance its war of aggression against Ukraine. We are effectively prohibiting the export of Russia’s most important asset after energy: Russian gold.
(Also: Moscow threatens to extend offensive in Ukraine and rules out negotiations)
Member States have agreed to our reinforced, prolonged EU sanctions against the Kremlin.
I welcome that.
It sends a strong signal to Moscow: we will keep the pressure high for as long as it takes. https://t.co/eO87bSmGR1
– Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 21, 2022
The EU is also “extending the exemption of the transactions of agricultural products and the transfer of oil to third countries”, as the Twenty-seven make efforts to “ensure that we can overcome the global food crisis that is coming”, said Borrell.
“It is up to Russia to stop bombing Ukraine’s fields and silos and to stop blockading Black Sea ports,” he added.
This Thursday’s package introduces a new ban on buying, importing or transferring gold, directly or indirectly, if it has its origin in Russia and has been exported from Russia to the EU or to any third country thereafter.
This prohibition also covers jewelry.
We’ll keep the pressure on as long as it takes
It also expands the list of controlled items, which can contribute to Russia’s military and technological improvement or the development of its defense and security sector, thus strengthening controls on the export of advanced and dual-use technology.
The new measures also extend the existing port access ban to prevent sanctions evasion and broaden the scope of the veto to accept deposits to include those of legal persons, entities or bodies established in third countries and majority owned by Russian citizens or natural persons residing in Russia.
The acceptance of deposits for non-prohibited cross-border trade will be subject to prior authorization from the competent national authorities.
The EU is also introducing a series of clarifications to existing measures in various fields, such as public procurement, aviation and justice.
(Keep reading: Europe’s plan in the face of the possibility that Russia will cut off its gas in winter)
For example, technical assistance to Russia for aviation goods and technology will be allowed when necessary to safeguard the International Civil Aviation Organization’s industrial technical standard-setting work, and the ban on transactions with Russian public entities will be slightly reduced. .
Furthermore, in order to avoid possible negative consequences for food and energy security, the EU decided to extend the exemption from the ban on transactions with certain state-owned entities for agricultural products and the transport of oil to third countries.
The agreement on the new sanctions package came five days after the European Commission presented the proposal.
The new package adds 50 people to the sanctioned list who are banned from entering the EU and who have had their property and assets frozen in the EU, including “politicians, military leaders, oligarchs and propagandists”.
The list already exceeds a thousand individuals, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, or former Chelsea president Roman Abramovich.
The EU will veto the import of Russian coal from August and before the end of the year, that of the oil it receives by sea, that is, 90% of all that it buys from Moscow.
Other sanctions approved since last February 24, the day Russia began the invasion of Ukraine, include the banning of broadcasts by Russian state media in the EU, such as Russia Today or Sputnik, the closure of European airspace to Russian airlines and the ban on exports of dual-use technology.
The EU has also unified the calendar of all the sanction packages approved so far throughout the almost five months of war, in such a way that its extension will be reviewed in January 2023.
*With information from EFE
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