The European Union today agreed to impose a new round of sanctions against Russia, marking the 21st sanctions package since February 2022. Greece however has been granted an exemption, after their veto had until now prevented a deal.
The package granted Greece a one-year exemption allowing EU companies to transfer Russian LNG to third countries, with an automatic renewal. Sanctions require unanimity to be adopted.
Greece held its ground and kept its veto firmly in place until the majority of member states agreed to introduce a derogation allowing the transfer of Russian LNG to non-EU clients for contracts concluded before the start of the invasion in February 2022.
The package designates 94 Russian financial institutions, mainly banks, alongside Moscow’s stock exchange. Once adopted, these entities will fall under the full weight of sanctions which include asset freezes, travel and transaction bans.
The restrictions target the banking sector in an effort to squeeze Russia’s financial system at what the EU sees as a vulnerable time for its economy.
The package will also target, for the first time, vessels helping Russia’s shadow fleet and bans transactions with more crypto platforms and oil trading companies.
The bloc managed to avert a politically disastrous revision of the price cap on Russian oil, freezing it at $44 per barrel for 12 months. This removes uncertainty which recently emerged after hostilities between the United States and Iran resumed.
Russian banks, crypto and oil-trading platforms, various metals found on the battlefield, as well as over 250 individuals and companies accused of supporting the invasion of Ukraine, spreading pro-war propaganda and enabling circumvention have also been targeted by the new package of sanctions.
Bulgaria was also successful in removing two names from the final list: Patriarch Kirill, the head of Russia’s Orthodox Church, and Vagit Alekperov, the billionaire founder of Lukoil.
Austria also secured a political victory after member states agreed to consider its contentious request to lift sanctions on Rasperia, a blacklisted investment company, to offset a €2.1 billion loss incurred by Raiffeisen Bank International in Russia.
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