In addition to the EU, Japan announced on Friday that it would stop importing coal from Russia. About ten percent of the coal it buys has come from Russia.
Brussels
EU countries The fifth package of sanctions against Russia will enter into force on Friday after protracted negotiations between member states.
The EU is now launching energy sanctions, albeit with difficulty. The first target of sanctions will be the import of coal from Russia.
A quarter of Russia’s coal exports go to EU countries. The value of exports is about eight billion euros, which is small compared to the exports of oil and natural gas. They bring about € 100 billion a year to Russia’s coffers.
The ban on coal imports will take effect after a transitional period in August. After Friday, no new contracts for coal supplies can be made.
In addition to the EU, Japan announced on Friday that it would stop importing coal from Russia. Japan imports coal the third most in the world after India and China, and Russia has become about ten percent of the coal it buys.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov Russia says there is strong demand for coal and Russia can replace European trade by redirecting its exports to other markets.
Coal in addition, the EU is banning a total of € 5.5 billion worth of products. Cement, rubber products, wood, alcohol and fish, among other things, are no longer allowed to be imported into the EU from Russia.
Alcohol naturally also covers vodka. Fish products include caviar.
The sixth package of sanctions is already being prepared, and preliminary data suggest that oil will enter in some way – its import will not necessarily be banned altogether, but the EU will turn to some sort of step-by-step solution.
Read more: US and EU impose additional sanctions on Russia, but not yet in extreme means – Expert: “This is what we were able to do this time”
On Friday In the reported sanctions, the EU is working to close the gaps left by previous sanctions, through which the Russians have been able to continue to transfer funds abroad.
Now cryptocurrencies are also subject to sanctions. Under previous sanctions, cryptocurrency trading venues in the EU have had to stop trading with sanctioned individuals, but now the sanction has been extended to cover cryptocurrencies for the preservation of currencies.
The EU also bans the sale of non-euro banknotes and securities to Russia and Belarus.
Transactions with four Russian banks will be banned and their assets will be frozen. These banks control less than a quarter of the Russian banking market. They have already been excluded from the Swift messaging system. The names will be published in the Official Journal of the EU, but according to preliminary data, at least VTB will be involved.
Of the Russians and the carriage of cargo by Belarusian carriers in the EU is banned. However, the ban does not apply to essential goods such as agricultural products and foodstuffs. Energy transport and humanitarian aid are also still allowed.
Ships flying the Russian flag can no longer enter EU ports. Here, too, there are exceptions for the transport of food, energy, medicines and humanitarian aid.
European Union also imposes export bans on Russia and targets products where Russia is dependent on the EU. These include quantum computers, technically advanced semiconductors, and products related to transportation and the chemical industry.
Any jet fuel and its additives used by the military are also included in the export ban. In total, the bans affect about 10 billion worth of exports to Russia.
Personal sanctions will be more. A total of 217 people and 18 communities are subject to sanctions, which means that the EU’s sanctions list, which has been in force since 2014, now includes 1,091 people and 80 communities.
Now the president will be subject to more sanctions Vladimir Putin related parties, including a Finnish citizen Boris Rotenberg. Among them are the assets of the aluminum company Rusal, among others Oleg Deripaska and a member of Sberbank ‘s management Herman Gref.
Also Putin’s daughters Marija Vorontsova and Katerina Tihonova ended up on the sanctions list.
Of the 217 people now listed, the majority, 179, are Russians involved in the administration of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
According to a spokesman for the EU Commission, the EU has frozen a total of € 30 billion worth of funds for oligarchs and other people linked to the Russian regime.
For new ones In the context of sanctions, Member States amended the section of the previous Sanctions Regulation on works of art.
The change means that transfers between museums can be exempted.
In accordance with the previous sanctions regulation, Finnish customs had time to stop three art transports on their way to Russia in Vaalimaa at the beginning of April. These works of art were coming back to Russia from Italy and Japan via Finland.
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