The European Commission on Tuesday will propose EU sanctions against Russia, including a ban on imports of coal, timber, chemicals and other goods worth about 9 billion euros ($ 9.86 billion) a year, citing a source in the EU, according to Reuters.
KYIV. UkraineGate , 5 , April , 2022 | Political News .
Details
According to the source, the European Union will also propose to ban exports to Russia for another 10 billion euros a year, including semiconductors, computers, technologies for LNG gas and other electrical and transport equipment.
According to the source, Russian ships and trucks will be barred from entering / entering the EU, which will hit trade even harder, with the exception of energy, food and medicine.
According to the source, the EU, which includes 27 countries, will also ban all transactions with VTB and three other Russian banks that have already been excluded from the SWIFT messaging system, and dozens of individuals will be added to the EU sanctions list, including oligarchs and politicians. .
The ban on coal imports, if approved by EU countries, will be the first ban on energy imports from Russia, adopted by the bloc since Moscow launched a war against Ukraine on February 24.
The European Commission proposed such a ban in January if Russia invades its neighbor, but EU sources told Reuters that the proposal was blocked by Germany, the EU country that is most dependent on Russian coal. A source in the German government told Reuters that Germany would support a phased EU embargo on Russian coal imports. According to a source in the EU, the ban on coal imports will cost the bloc about 4 billion euros a year. By comparison, the EU imported about 100 billion euros worth of oil and gas from Russia last year.
“Sources say the EU is working on oil and gas measures, but has not yet made any decisions,” the newspaper said.
The new measures, it said, will also stop the transport of goods by road and sea, with the exception of critical imported goods, including gas and oil. The EU has already banned flights to Russia.
Some sanctions can be difficult, officials have repeatedly said, as it is not always easy to determine the origin of a cargo ship.
According to the source, a ban will also be proposed on imports from Russia of wood, cement, rubber and chemicals, as well as luxury foods, including caviar and alcoholic beverages such as vodka, totaling about 5 billion euros a year.
According to the source, including about 10 billion euros from the planned ban on technology exports to Russia, the new restrictions will reduce trade between the EU and Russia by at least 20 billion euros a year.
Import bans will take effect as soon as the sanctions are published in the Official Journal of the EU, with lifting periods not yet determined, the source said.
Addition
The EU has already approved four packages of sanctions, including a freeze on Russia’s central bank’s assets, and new measures are set to further affect trade with Russia.
Source: Ukrgate
