EU sanctions on Russia fourth package approved by the European Council and being published in the European Official Journal. The goal is to hit the Russian elites' consumption and technology shipments. And so comes the halt to the export of light goods and the blockade of technology for defense and security. The great absentee is gas which continues to represent an essential commodity for Europe and an indispensable source of income for Russia, heavily hit by the restrictions.
As long as President Putin's war against the Ukrainian people continues, so will our determination to support Ukraine and hinder the financing of the Kremlin's war machine. This fourth package of sanctions is another major blow to the economic and logistical basis Russia relies on to carry out its invasion of Ukraine. The aim of the sanctions is for President Putin to put an end to this inhuman and senseless war.Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
Source: Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
EU sanctions on Russia fourth package: luxury and defense in the crosshairs
The measures adopted by the EU introduce new bans essentially to affect import-export in the key sector of the military defense, imposing a ban on transactions with some Russian companies in the sector. Also prohibited steel imports from Russia, which would cause further damage to the country's economy, valued at around 3,3 billion.
The supply of is then prohibited rating services of credit against any issuing company (including of course the State) or Russian person. This will make it increasingly difficult, in the intentions of the EU, for Moscow to obtain liquidity on the financial markets. Just tomorrow, Wednesday, Moscow has to repay debt installments of 157 million dollars and is preparing to pay in rubles after the Central Bank's reserves have been blocked. And it could trigger the default.
As a further step of trade restriction, the EU will ask the WTO (World Trade Organization) to block the status so far granted to Russia of "most favored nation“, a clause that confers quite a few facilities and privileges from the point of view of global exchange. Furthermore, “in the light of the material support provided by the Belarus to the actions of the Russian Federation – states the statement of the European Council – the EU believes that its WTO accession process should be suspended".
EU sanctions on Russia fourth package: more oligarchs outlawed
Furthermore, the Council decided to sanction “the key oligarchs, lobbyists and propagandists who push the Kremlin's narrative on the situation in Ukraine, as well as key companies in the sectors ofaviation, military and dual-use, of shipbuilding and machine building”.
Finally, the fourth package of EU sanctions decrees a new crackdown on about twenty new sanctioned oligarchs. Among them too Roman Abramovich, the Russian billionaire owner of Chelsea. Among the companies there are United Aircraft Corporation, the state shipbuilding group United Shipbuilding Corporation, Russia Helicopters and one of the divisions of the oil giant Rosneft.
