EU agrees on eighth package of sanctions against Russia

The Council of the European Union adopted the following additional measures

• Additional listings: Additional individuals and organisations have been sanctioned. This targets those involved in Russia's occupation, illegal annexation, and sham “referenda” in the occupied territories/oblasts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions. It also includes individuals and organisations working in the defence sector, such as high-ranking and military officials, as well as companies supporting the Russian armed forces. The EU also continues to target those who spread disinformation about the war.
  
  EU restrictive measure target key decision makers, oligarchs, senior military officials and propagandists, responsible for undermining Ukraine's territorial integrity.
   
• Extension of restrictions to the oblasts of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia: The geographical scope of the restrictive measures in response to the recognition of the non-government controlled areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts of Ukraine and the ordering of Russian armed forces into those areas has been extended to cover all the non-government controlled areas of Ukraine in the oblasts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
   
• New export restrictions: Additional export restrictions have been introduced that aim to reduce Russia's access to military, industrial and technological items, as well as its ability to develop its defence and security sector.
  
  This includes a ban on the export of coal including coking coal (which is used in Russian industrial plants), specific electronic components (found in Russian weapons), technical items used in the aviation sector, as well as certain chemicals.
  
  A prohibition on exporting small arms and other goods under the anti-torture Regulation has been added.
   
• New import restrictions: Almost €7 billion worth of additional import restrictions have been agreed.
  
  This includes, for example, a ban on the import of Russian finished and semi-finished steel products (subject to a transition period for some semi-finished), machinery and appliances, plastics, vehicles, textiles, footwear, leather, ceramics, certain chemical products, and non-gold jewellery.
   
• Implementing the G7 oil price cap: This package marks the beginning of the implementation within the EU of the G7 agreement on Russian oil exports. While the EU's ban on importing Russian seaborne crude oil remains fully in place, the price cap, once implemented, would allow European operators to carry out and support the transport of Russian oil to non-EU countries, provided its price remains under a pre-set “cap”. This will help to further reduce Russia's revenues, while keeping global energy markets stable through continued supplies. It will therefore also help address inflation and keep energy costs stable at a time when high costs – particularly elevated fuel prices – are a great concern to all Europeans.
  
  This measure, after being closely coordinated with G7 partners, took effect following a further decision by the Council: It took effect from 5 December 2022 for crude and 5 February 2023 for refined petroleum products.
   
• Restrictions on State-owned enterprises: This package bans EU nationals from holding posts in the governing bodies of certain state-owned enterprises.
  
  It also bans all transactions with the Russian Maritime Register, adding it to the list of state-owned enterprises that are subject to a transaction ban.
   
• Financial, IT consultancy and other business services: The existing prohibitions on crypto assets have been tightened by banning all crypto-asset wallets, accounts, or custody services, irrespective of the amount of the wallet (previously up to €10,000 was allowed).
  
  The package widens the scope of services that can no longer be provided to the government of Russia or legal persons established in Russia: these now include IT consultancy, legal advisory, architecture and engineering services. These are significant as they will potentially weaken Russia's industrial capacity because it is highly dependent on importing these services.
   
• Deterring sanctions circumvention: The EU has introduced a new listing criterion, which will allow it to sanction individuals who facilitate the infringements of the prohibition against circumvention of sanctions.

For more information

• 8^th package of sanctions in the official journal
• Press release on 8^th sanctions package
• Questions and answers on 8^th sanctions package 
• European Commission website on Ukraine
• Questions and answers on restrictive measures