The European Union has announced its 14th package of economic and individual restrictive measures against Russia, further tightening the screws on the Russian economy.
In a statement released on Monday, the Council of the European Union outlined the new measures, which target key sectors such as energy, finance, and trade. The sanctions aim to make it more difficult for Russia to circumvent EU sanctions and increase pressure on the Russian economy.
The new measures include restrictive measures on an additional 116 individuals and entities, bringing the total number of individuals and entities subject to EU sanctions to over 1,200.
In the energy sector, the EU has forbidden the reloading of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) in EU territory for transhipment operations to third countries. The EU has also prohibited new investments, goods, technology, and services to complete LNG projects under construction.
The finance sector has also been targeted, with the EU outlawing the System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), a specialized financial messaging service developed by the Central Bank of Russia. EU entities outside Russia are forbidden from connecting to the SPFS or equivalent specialized financial messaging services, and EU operators are barred from making transactions with specifically listed entities using SPFS outside of Russia.
The EU has also widened the flight ban, broadened the prohibition on the transport of goods by road within its territory, and imposed restrictions on the export of goods such as chemicals, including manganese ores and compounds of rare earth, plastics, excavating machinery, monitors, and electrical equipment. Further restrictions on the import of helium from Russia have also been introduced.
The EU’s latest package of sanctions is seen as a response to Russia’s continued aggression in Ukraine and its failure to comply with international law. The EU has been steadily increasing pressure on Russia since the annexation of Crimea in 2014, and the latest measures are seen as a further escalation of the EU’s sanctions regime.
The full impact of the sanctions remains to be seen, but they are likely to have significant consequences for the Russian economy, which is already reeling from the impact of previous sanctions and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
