The EU has adopted new sectoral sanctions against Russia that will enter into force on 12 September. Alarmed by the gravity of the situation in Eastern Ukraine, the Council decided to step up the measures adopted on 31 July against Russia.
On 5 September, the Council's Committee of Permanent Representatives (COREPER) reached an agreement on a set of further measures related to access to capital markets, defence, dual use goods, and sensitive technologies.
On 8 September, tougher restrictions were formally adopted by the European Council through a written procedure.
These restrictive measures will:
· strengthen restrictions on Russia's access to EU capital to five major Russian state-owned banks
· prohibit trade in new bonds, equity or similar financial instruments with a maturity exceeding 30 days, issued by the same banks
· prohibit debt financing to three major Russian defence companies and three major energy companies
· reinforce an export ban for dual use goods and technology for military end users to also include a list of nine mixed defence companies
· curtail Russian access to services necessary for deep water oil exploration and production, arctic oil exploration or production and shale oil projects.
The list of people exposed to visa bans and asset freeze will now include another 24 persons, including the “new leadership in Donbass, the government of Crimea as well as certain Russian decision-makers and oligarchs,” says the letter published at http://www.consilium.europa.eu. According to the report, the total number of persons and entities under EU restrictions over the Ukraine crisis has reached 119 persons and 23 entities.
The Council’s president, Herman Van Rompuy, also said COREPER will assess the implementation of the peace plan in Ukraine by the end of the month.”Sanctions could be amended, suspended or repealed in whole or in part depending on the outcome of this assessment,” says the report.
Author: Mikhail Vesely