European Union finally approves 19th package of sanctions against Russia
The European Union finally approved the 19th package of sanctions against Russia by written procedure on the morning of 23 October.
"We are pleased to announce that the Council has approved the 19th package of sanctions," the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU stated.
The day before, the Danish Presidency announced that it had received a message from "the last country that it was now ready to lift its reservations on the 19th package." After that, it launched the approval process and predicted its completion by 08:00, which is what happened.
The energy section of the sanctions package provides for a ban on the import of Russian LNG – within six months for short-term contracts and from 1 January 2027 for long-term contracts, in line with the European Commission's RePowerEU plan.
It also strengthens the ban on cooperation with Russia's two oil giants and sanctions against another 117 tankers of the shadow fleet, bringing the total number of sanctioned vessels to 558.
The financial section includes:
- a ban on insurance for aircraft and ships used by Russia for the first 5 years after sale to a third country
- a complete ban on transactions with five Russian banks and an extension of the existing ban on Russian electronic payment systems, in particular Mir, and sanctions against four more banks in Belarus and Kazakhstan
- a ban on transactions with five banks, one crypto exchange and two oil trading companies in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Paraguay, the UAE and Hong Kong
- a new ban on European economic operators entering into new contracts with nine special economic zones in the Russian Federation and a complete ban on cooperation with Alabuga and Technopolis Moscow
- a complete ban on cryptocurrency services for citizens, residents and companies from the Russian Federation.
Another 45 companies were punished for circumventing existing sanctions, including three in India, two in Thailand, and 12 in China and Hong Kong; many of them are related to unmanned technologies.
Additional export restrictions have been imposed to complicate Russia's access to microchips and technologies that can be used in the defence industrial base. More individuals and companies associated with the defence industrial base and developments for the military industry will be added to the sanctions lists.
The export ban on industrial goods such as salt, rubber, building materials and technological goods is being expanded.
The criteria for adding ports in third countries to the sanctions lists are being expanded to include those used to transport UAVs and missiles to Russia or to circumvent oil sanctions.
A new mechanism is being introduced to restrict the movement of Russian diplomats in the EU, with a three-month transition period.
New criteria are being established for inclusion in sanctions lists in connection with Russian authorities' involvement with the abduction of Ukrainian children.
The ban on the provision of services in the field of AI, complex computer technologies, and commercial space services is being expanded. The provision of any services in Russia that are not yet prohibited by sanctions will require prior approval.
In addition, European operators will be prohibited from providing tourism-related services in Russia.
EU Chief Diplomat Kaja Kallas previously predicted that the 19th package of sanctions against Russia could be approved on 23 October during a meeting of the European Council.
The final approval of the sanctions package was blocked by Slovakia, which demanded that the European Commission take into account its reservations regarding cars with internal combustion engines and energy price regulation.
Austria also raised objections, demanding that the EU lift sanctions on some Russian assets to compensate the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank for fines imposed by Russia, but without success.