BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union on Monday imposed new sanctions on Russia over its war against Ukraine, targeting Moscow’s parallel fleet of tankers that transport liquefied natural gas across Europe, as well as several companies.
In a statement issued at a meeting of EU foreign ministers, the bloc stated that it “will prohibit Russian LNG reloading services on EU territory for the purpose of transhipment operations to third countries”.
The EU estimates that around 4 to 6 billion cubic meters (141 billion-212 billion cubic feet) of Russian LNG were shipped to third countries through EU ports last year. Russia is suspected of running a “ghost fleet” to evade sanctions and maintain the flow of energy revenue to finance the war.
The measures will target ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore transfers, as well as reloading operations. It also involves a crackdown on the re-export of LNG to third countries through the EU, as well as a ban on new investment to help Russia complete the LNG projects it is working on.
A total of 61 new “entities” – often companies, banks, agencies and other organizations – have been added to the EU list, including some in China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Many are accused of circumvent the bloc’s sanctions or supply sensitive equipment to Russia.
Around 50 more employees are also being targeted by asset freezes, as well as travel bans. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, as well as several lawmakers and several oligarchs are among more than 1,700 people. already listed by the EU.
The more than 400 previously affected entities They include companies working in the military, aviation, shipbuilding and machinery sectors, the Wagner mercenary group, political parties and banks. Around 210 billion euros ($225 billion) in Russian Central Bank assets are blocked in the EU.
