EU sanctions aim to cut off financing for five major Russian banks, including Sberbank, the largest.

Reuters/Brussels

 

The European Union has published a law that will curb arms sales to Russia and to cut off financing for five major Russian banks over Moscow’s support for rebels in Ukraine.

Russia has denounced the measures, agreed by the 28 EU member states on Tuesday, as “destructive and short-sighted”, while fighting has intensified in eastern Ukraine between Kiev forces and the pro-Russian separatists.

EU officials say the sanctions aim to inflict maximum pain on Russia and minimum pain on the EU. “We will for sure have an effect and a very substantial and concrete effect on Russia,” one EU official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The toughest measures aim to prevent Russian banks from raising money on Western capital markets, while others limit defence sales and the export of hi-tech equipment for the oil sector.

Published yesterday in the Official Journal of the European Union, the law takes effect from today.

Marking a fundamental shift in how Europe deals with Russia, the sanctions will mean EU nationals and companies can no longer buy or sell new bonds, equity or other financial instruments with a maturity of more than 90 days issued by major state-owned Russian banks or those acting on their behalf.

The law lists five targeted banks - Russia’s largest lender Sberbank, VTB Bank, Gazprombank, Vnesheconombank (VEB) and Russian Agriculture Bank (Rosselkhozbank).

In addition, there is a ban on any future imports and exports of arms from Russia, and authorisation will be required for member states that want to export energy-related equipment.

Export licences will be denied if products are destined for deepwater oil exploration and production, Arctic oil exploration or production and shale oil projects in Russia.

Europe, which has deep trade links with Russia, was far more reluctant to act than the US over Moscow’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in March and its support for the rebels.

However, the mood shifted radically after the downing over eastern Ukraine of a civilian flight from the Netherlands to Malaysia earlier this month. Western countries say a Russian-supplied missile fired from rebel-held territory caused the disaster. Moscow blames the Ukrainian military for the crash, in which 298 people were killed.

Some EU member states remain nervous about the impact on their own fragile economies. The sanctions deal was agreed only after initial proposals were narrowed.

EU subsidiaries of the targeted Russian banks are excluded from the ban, though they are prohibited from raising funds for their parent companies.

A ban on hi-tech energy equipment applies to the oil industry only, not gas, although the targeted banks include Gazprombank, which is 36% owned by Russian gas giant Gazprom.

The restriction on sales of defence equipment is limited to future orders. That means France will be allowed to go ahead with delivery of a naval helicopter carrier it has already sold to Russia. Analysts say the EU will also suffer.

Russia is the world’s biggest exporter of natural gas and second biggest of oil, and the state depends on energy for around half of its budget revenue. However, the EU also depends on Russia for roughly one third of its energy imports.

On the global oil market, crude imports from Russia can easily be replaced, but Russian gas delivered through pipelines is less flexible.

European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger repeated in a German television interview yesterday that Russia has as much interest as Europe in maintaining gas supplies to the EU because of its need for revenue.

So far, Russia has retaliated to the Western sanctions with bans on imports of some food items.

Russia may restrict fruit imports from Greece - which has the weakest economy in the EU - next week, RIA news agency reported, citing a watchdog agency. It may also suspend US poultry imports, Interfax news agency said. The EU sanctions will be subject to a three-month review to assess whether they are achieving their aim of forcing President Vladimir Putin to “de-escalate” the crisis. Page 3, 10

 

 

 

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