The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, announced this Friday a fourth package of measures against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine, at the end of the summit held in Versailles, in which luxury items are put under siege, to crypto assets to circumvent sanctions, to the import of key products in the iron and steel sector of the Russian Federation and the prohibition of new European investments in the Russian energy sector.
The EU is working in unison with its G-7 partners to increase economic pressure on the Kremlin after the “good” results of the three waves of sanctions that have been previously adopted. “The ruble has collapsed. Many of the major Russian banks are isolated from the international banking system. Companies are leaving the country, one after the other, not wanting their brands to be associated with a murderous regime” declare from the European Commission in a statement.
The sanctions contemplate six points. First, the European Commission will deny Russia most favored nation status in its markets, so that it will no longer have the benefits of being a member of the WTO and its companies will no longer receive privileged treatment. It also contemplates suspending its membership rights in the main multilateral financial institutions, including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
The second point includes the Commission will keep the pressure on the Russian elites close to Putin, as well as their families and facilitators. Precisely for this reason, the G-7 finance, justice and interior ministers will meet next week. On the other hand, thirdly, neither the Russian state nor its elites will be able to make use of crypto assets to circumvent sanctions.
The prohibition of the export of any luxury item from the European Union to Russia is the fifth point, which is configured as a direct blow to the Russian elite. “Those who support Putin’s war machine should no longer be able to enjoy their lavish lifestyle while bombs are falling on innocent people in Ukraine,” the Commission explains.
Fifth, the import of key products in Russia’s iron and steel sector will be banned, depriving this key industry of “billions of export earnings and ensuring that our citizens are not subsidizing Putin’s war.” “, Add.
The EC has disbursed €300 million in emergency macro-financial assistance
As a final paragraph, the Commission will propose a major ban on new European investment in Russia’s energy sector. Because we shouldn’t be fueling the energy dependency we want to leave behind. This ban will cover all investments, technology transfers, financial services, etc., for energy exploration and production, and will therefore have a huge impact on Putin.
In addition to these measures, in support of Ukraine, the EC has disbursed €300 million in emergency macro-financial assistance, as the first tranche of its €1.2 billion financial aid package.
key products
The G-7, for its part, shares measures such as denying Russia the status of most favored nation in relation to its key products, preventing financing from the main multilateral financial institutions, pressure on Russian elites close to Putin, as well as their families and facilitators, the ban on using digital assets.
It also incorporates new measures such as “fighting against the attempts of the Russian regime to spread disinformation. We affirm and support the right of the Russian people to free and impartial information”, imposing more restrictions on exports and imports of key goods and technologies to the Federation Russia, whose objective is “to deny Russia income and ensure that our citizens are not subscribing to President Putin’s war, in line with national processes”, to which they add that “we observe that international companies are already withdrawing from the market We will ensure that the elites, proxies and oligarchs who support President Putin’s war are deprived of their access to luxury goods and assets. The elites who sustain Putin’s war machine must not continue to reap the profits of this system, squandering the resources of the Russian people” and prohibit access by Russian entities that directly or indirectly support the war on new debt and equity investments and other forms of international capital. “Our citizens are united in the opinion that their savings and investments should not finance the companies that sustain Russia’s economy and war machine. We will continue to work together to develop and implement measures that further limit Russia’s ability to obtain money. at the international level”, they have indicated publicly.
Reduce Russian gas consumption by two thirds by 2022
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, affirmed this Friday that the EU considers it “feasible” to do without two-thirds of natural gas imports from Russia by the end of the year. “It is something feasible. It is not a prohibition, but a reduction of Russian gas,” von der Leyen pointed out at the press conference at the end of the summit of heads of state and government in Versailles, implying that there is no intention of turn off the taps immediately as a sanction on Moscow, but only partially. To achieve this goal of reducing dependence on Russian gas, the 27 have agreed on a whole series of measures, starting from the diversification of the gas supplying countries to the acceleration in the deployment of renewable energies. Beyond that eventuality, the clear will of the EU is that “in the medium term we have to get rid of dependence on Russian gas and oil.”
The US and the G-7 revoke Russia’s trade status and open the door to a tariff war
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