Council of European Union approves 11th package of sanctions against Russia

BRUSSELS. June 23 (Interfax) - The Council of the European Union approved the 11th package of sanctions against Russia on Friday, adding 87 entities to the sanctions list and imposing additional restrictions on the transit of goods through Russia.

"The commission welcomes the Council's adoption of an 11th package of sanctions against Russia. [...] [In particular, it includes the] addition of 87 new entities to the list of those directly supporting Russia's military and industrial complex," a press release published on the European Commission's website said.

In particular, the list will include companies registered in China, Uzbekistan, the United Arab Emirates, Syria and Armenia, it said.

The new package envisages "extension of the transit prohibition for certain sensitive goods, e.g. advanced technology, aviation-related materials, exported from the EU to third countries, via Russia," it said.

The European Union has banned Russian oil supplied by pipeline to Germany and Poland.

"The temporary derogation granted to Germany and Poland for the supply of crude oil from Russia through the northern section of the Druzhba oil pipeline will end," the Council of the European Union said.

"However, the oil which originates in Kazakhstan or another third country will be able to continue to transit through Russia and imported into the EU via the Druzhba oil pipeline," it said.

Meanwhile, the package of sanctions extends the exception made for Sakhalin oil purchased by Japan from the price cap imposed by G7 and EU member states (with ships from those countries prohibited from transporting Russian oil whenever it costs higher than the price cap), until March 31, 2024, the press release said.

According to the press release, the European Union will ease some export restrictions for Russia in its 11th package of sanctions to enable the maintenance of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) system.

Among its energy measures, the document envisages "insertions of strict and very targeted derogations to the existing export bans to enable the maintenance of the CPC (Caspian Pipeline Consortium) pipeline which transports Kazakh oil to the EU through Russia," it said.

The 11th package of anti-Russian sanctions has barred tankers engaged in ship-to-ship reloading of Russian oil and suspected of breaching the G7 and EU price cap from European ports, the European Commission said.

The package envisages "prohibition to access EU ports for vessels that engage in ship-to-ship transfers suspected to be in breach of the Russian oil import ban or G7 Coalition price cap," it said.

The new sanctions ban the export of electric and hybrid vehicles and some internal combustion engine (ICE) cars to Russia, it said.

"Extension of the ban on export of luxury cars to all new and second-hand cars above a certain engine size (over 1,900 cubic centimeters), and all electric and hybrid vehicles," the press release said.

The EU will also impose "a full ban on certain types of machinery components."

According to the announcement, the European Union has tightened restrictions on imports of steel products.

Imports of such goods are prohibited from all countries if they are made with Russian metal, the Council of the European Union said.

Companies supplying metal to EU member states will have to prove that raw materials acquired for processing in a third country do not come from Russia, the press release said.

The European Union has also broadened restrictions on cargo transportation to and from Russia by trucks and fully bans the movement of trucks with Russian trailers and semitrailers within its territory, the press release said.

According to the European Commission, such measures will help prevent circumvention of sanctions in the transportation of Russian goods.

The European Union imposed restrictions on trucks operated by Russian carriers in April 2022. They were prohibited from bilateral and transit transportation, as well as transportation from or to a third state. Russia reciprocated in October.

A reattachment/reloading mechanism was later implemented: goods were reloaded from foreign trucks onto local ones, or semitrailers were reattached at customs terminals in border areas.

The deadline for foreign carriers using the reattachment/reloading mechanism in Russia is June 30, 2023. The press service for Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov said in April that its extension until 2024 was being considered.

The 11th package of sanctions against Russia also extends the suspension of broadcast licenses for five Russian media outlets, namely RT Balkan, Oriental Review, New Eastern Outlook, Tsargrad and Katekhon.

This was done "in order to address the Russian Federation's systematic, international campaign of media manipulation and distortion of facts," the council's statement said.

The EU blames the media outlets for "continuous and concerted propaganda actions targeted at the civil society in the EU and neighboring countries," it said.

The ban will not prevent the sanctioned media outlets and their employees from engaging in activities other than broadcasting in EU member states, such as conducting interviews, in accordance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights, it said.

The European Union's 11th package of sanctions against Russia will take effect on Saturday.