More EU Sanctions Against Russia Set To Begin

BRUSSELS — Further sanctions against Russia agreed to by European Union countries on Monday will enter into force tomorrow, an EU official said here Thursday. The measures will cover the capital market, dual use (civil and military) goods and the energy sector.

EU nationals and companies may no more provide loans to five major Russian state-owned banks. At the same time, trade in new bonds, equity or similar financial instruments with a maturity exceeding 30 days, issued by the same banks, has been prohibited. The same restrictions have been extended to three major Russian defense companies and three major energy companies. Providing services related to the issuing of the above financial instruments, e.g. brokering, is also included in the prohibition.

The EU official refused to name the three Russian defense companies ahead of publication of the sanctions in the EU’s Official Journal tomorrow.

An existing ban on exporting dual use goods and technology for military use in Russia has been extended to also include a list of nine mixed defense companies that must not receive dual use goods from the EU. Again, the EU official would not name the companies and would only say that there were “around 20 items” on the list but was unable to give specific examples.

“The measures to be published tomorrow were prepared at the end of August by EU countries in response to the flow of arms from Russia to Ukraine,” said the EU official.

“Today, we join the European Union in announcing that we will intensify our coordinated sanctions on Russia in response to its illegal actions in Ukraine,” said a statement by US President Barack Obama on the new EU sanctions.

“We are implementing these new measures in light of Russia’s actions to further destabilize Ukraine over the last month, including through the presence of heavily armed Russian forces in eastern Ukraine. We are watching closely developments since the announcement of the ceasefire and agreement in Minsk, but we have yet to see conclusive evidence that Russia has ceased its efforts to destabilize Ukraine.

“We will deepen and broaden sanctions in Russia’s financial, energy, and defense sectors. These measures will increase Russia’s political isolation as well as the economic costs to Russia, especially in areas of importance to President Putin and those close to him. My administration will outline the specifics of these new sanctions tomorrow.”

In a press statement, the European Council’s President, Herman Van Rompuy, said that the Permanent Representatives Committee (COREPER) of EU countries will carry out a comprehensive review of the implementation of the [Russia-Ukraine] peace plan on the basis of an assessment carried out by the European External Action Service (EEAS) before the end of the month.

“Work on that is ongoing,” said the EU official, who added that “she expected it to be an internal assessment.”

“We have always stressed the reversibility and scalability of our restrictive measures. Therefore, in the light of the review and if the situation on the ground so warrants, the Commission and the EEAS are invited to put forward proposals to amend, suspend or repeal the set of sanctions in force, in all or in part,” said Van Rompuy in his statement