EU Adopts 16th Sanctions Package Against Russia

The European Union has approved its 16th package of sanctions against Russia, targeting the country's ability to finance its war in Ukraine, Orda reports, citing The EU Council.

The measures affect banking, shadow fleet operations, defense, and energy sectors, with some Kazakhstan registired companies also included in the restrictions.

For the first time, the EU banned transactions with financial institutions outside Russia that use SPFS, the Russian alternative to SWIFT developed to evade sanctions.

 The restrictions on specialized financial messaging services now cover 13 additional regional banks.

The package includes:

• 83 new sanctions listings (48 individuals and 35 entities)
• New criteria for sanctioning entities involved in the Russian shadow fleet
• Restrictions on those supporting Russia's military-industrial complex

A third of these entities are Russian while the others are located in third countries (China including Hong Kong, India, Kazakhstan, Singapore Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan) and have been involved in the circumvention of trade restrictions or have engaged in the procurement of sensitive items needed for instance for UAVs and missiles used for Russian military operations.

The measures also target:

• 74 new vessels added to the sanctions list (total now 153)
• Expanded list of prohibited goods including drone controllers, chemical precursors, and CNC machine software
• Oil and gas exploration technology
• Transportation by Russian companies across EU territory
• Temporary storage of Russian oil products in the EU
• Eight Russian media outlets including Lenta, NewsFront, RuBaltic and Tvzvezda

Additional mirror sanctions were imposed on Belarus, and the restrictions now apply to Crimea, Sevastopol, and occupied territories in Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions.

EU special envoy for sanctions David O'Sullivan had previously warned about potential inclusion of Kazakhstani registered companies in the package, while noting the EU's satisfaction with Kazakhstan's cooperation on  sanctions compliance.

The Kazakhstani registered firm United Trading Group, which allegedly aided in supplying hydrochloric acid for Russian missile production, may be among those sanctioned.

Original Author: Zhadra Zhulmukhametova