EU extends Russian sectoral sanctions

The EU Council has extended sectoral sanctions against Russia for a further six months, to 31 January 2019.

The extension was agreed between European leaders at the EU summit in Brussels on 29 June. The sanctions were originally imposed on Russia in July 2014 (and strengthened in September 2014) in response to Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and the ‘de-stabilisation’ of Ukraine. The EU has linked the implementation of the Minsk agreements – which attempted to establish a ceasefire and political settlement of the Ukraine conflict – with the duration of sanctions against Russia.

The restrictive measures target the financial, energy and defence sectors, as well as dual-use goods. The economic sanctions:

• restrict access to the EU’s primary and secondary capital markets for five major Russian state-backed financial institutions and majority-owned subsidiaries, as well as three Russian energy and defence companies;
• impose an export and import ban on arms trade;
• impose an export ban for dual-use goods for military use or military end users in Russia;
• prohibit Russian access to certain sensitive technologies and services that can be used for oil production and exploration.

Restrictive measures – a visa ban and an asset freeze – are also in place against 155 individuals and 38 entities until 15 September 2018. There are also measures limited to the region of Crimea and Sevastopol in place until 23 June 2019.

See the EU press release here:
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2018/07/05/russia-eu-prolongs-economic-sanctions-by-six-months/pdf