EU announces sixth round of sanctions against Russia
Xinhua News Agency, Brussels, June 3 (Reporter Ren Ke) The European Commission announced on the 3rd the sixth round of sanctions against Russia, including some oil embargoes and sanctions on Russian tankers, banks and media.
The European Commission issued a communiqué on the same day that the sanctions will take effect immediately and will gradually reduce Russian oil imports.
The EU will stop buying Russian seaborne crude oil, which accounts for two-thirds of EU imports of Russian crude, within six months, and stop buying Russian oil products within eight months.
By the end of 2022, EU oil imports from Russia will be cut by 90%.
Member states that rely on Russian pipeline crude could be granted temporary exemptions until the European Council decides otherwise, the communique said.
But member states benefiting from the exemption cannot resell such crude oil and refined products to other member states or to third countries.
The communique also said that EU companies are prohibited from providing insurance and reinsurance for commercial ships carrying Russian oil.
New insurance contracts will be banned immediately and existing insurance contracts will be phased out within six months.
On the same day, the EU also excluded three banks, including Russia's largest bank Sberbank, and a Belarusian bank from the Global Interbank Financial Communication Association system.
EU accounting, lobbying, PR and consulting firms are banned from providing services to Russian entities.
In addition, the EU has suspended broadcasting licenses for three Russian state media outlets, and EU companies are also not allowed to advertise on these outlets.
About 30 percent of the EU's current oil imports come from Russia, with about two-thirds arriving by sea and one-third by pipeline.
In 2021, the EU imported 48 billion euros worth of crude oil and 23 billion euros worth of refined products from Russia.
The European Union proposed the sixth round of sanctions against Russia as early as early May, and plans to gradually stop imports of Russian oil by the end of the year.
However, Hungary, which is highly dependent on Russian oil, has clearly expressed its opposition, emphasizing that Hungary has no access to the sea and that if the Russian oil pipeline is cut off, the economy will be severely damaged.
At an extraordinary EU summit on May 30-31, leaders of EU member states agreed on a sixth round of sanctions against Russia after agreeing to grant exemptions to Hungary and other countries from the oil embargo.