Earlier this month, the European Union finally announced the sixth package of anti-Russian sanctions. The new list of punitive measures is somewhat different from those introduced before. It took EU leaders several weeks to find consensus as not all members of the block were ready to ban Russian oil.
In spite of serious disagreements within the European Union, the sixth package of anti-Russian sanctions was adopted. The EU banned all Russian oil supplies except for those coming in through the Druzhba pipeline. The block also plans to cut Russian oil entirely at the beginning of next year. Crude became the most problematic issue for the EU when discussing new restrictive measures as some member states resisted the proposal to bar Russian oil supplies. Therefore, EU leaders had to agree that the embargo would have exemptions for pipeline imports to Hungary. In addition, Bulgaria and Croatia were granted derogations on the imports of seaborne oil.
The new sanctions package contains a list of goods that are not allowed to be exported to Russia, including 80 chemical substances that can be used by the military industry. It also excludes Russian banks Sberbank, the Credit Bank of Moscow, and the Russian Agricultural Bank as well as the Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus from the SWIFT international payment system.
