Shadow fleet, media, banks: EU approves 16th sanctions package against russia

A new package of EU sanctions against Russia affects vital sectors of the Russian economy, further weakening the regime's ability to wage an illegal, unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine.

The Council of the EU approved a package of 83 sanctions listings, consisting of 48 individuals and 35 organisations responsible for actions undermining or threatening Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence.

Additionally, the Council has introduced two new criteria enabling the EU to impose restrictive measures on individuals and entities that own or operate vessels linked to Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin's shadow fleet and those that support or benefit from Russia's defence industrial base.

"This new round of sanctions not only targets the Russian shadow fleet but those who support the operation of unsafe oil tankers, videogame controllers used to pilot drones, banks used to circumvent our sanctions, and propaganda outlets used to spout lies," Kaja Kallas, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said.

New vessels have been added to the shadow fleet list, which is subject to a ban on access to ports and restrictions on a range of maritime-related services. A total of 74 vessels from third countries have been sanctioned, raising the overall number of ships under sanctions to 153.

For the first time, the EU has imposed a ban on transactions with credit or financial institutions outside Russia that use the System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), operated by Russia's Central Bank. The SPFS is a financial messaging service developed by Russia's Central Bank to mitigate the impact of restrictive measures.

Additionally, the Council of the EU has extended the ban on providing specialised financial messaging services to 13 regional banks considered crucial to Russia's financial and banking systems.

The EU Council also added 53 new companies to the list of those directly supporting Russia's defence industrial base in its war against Ukraine. A third of these companies are Russian, while the remainder are based in third countries, including China.

In addition, today's decision expands the list of banned goods that contribute to the technological advancement of Russia's defence and security sector. The updated list includes items used in the development and production of Russian military systems, such as chemical precursors for chloropicrin and other riot control agents, software for computer numerical control machines, chromium compounds and controllers for unmanned aerial vehicles.

The EU has also introduced additional restrictions on the export of goods contributing to Russia's industrial potential, including chemicals, certain plastics and rubber and on their transit through Russia. Furthermore, further limitations have been imposed on the import of primary aluminium, which generates significant revenues for Russia.

In addition, the Council of the EU has decided to suspend the EU broadcasting licences of eight Russian media outlets, which are under the constant control of the Russian leadership, and to prohibit them from broadcasting their content. These are: EADaily / Eurasia Daily, Fondsk, Lenta, NewsFront, RuBaltic, SouthFront, Strategic Culture Foundation and Krasnaya Zvezda / Tvzvezda.

Furthermore, the EU has prohibited any transactions with specific ports, gateways, and airports in Russia that are used to transfer UAVs, missiles and related technologies and components or to bypass oil price caps and other restrictive measures by vessels involved in irregular and risky shipping.

The package of measures approved today imposes additional restrictions on the export of goods and technology, particularly software related to oil and gas exploration, to further limit Russia's oil and gas exploration and production capacity.

The Council of the EU has also prohibited the provision of services for the temporary storage of Russian oil and oil products in the EU, regardless of the purchase price or the final destination of these products.

Earlier, in a statement dedicated to the third anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU announced the adoption of the 16th package of sanctions against Moscow.

Meanwhile, last week, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó promised to oppose the extension of EU sanctions against more than 2,400 individuals and organisations, including Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.