EU lawmakers have mastered the art of inventing sanctions. It goes without saying that the EU economy has been heavily exposed to Russian natural resources for decades. Having pushed all 27 EU countries into unanimous consent to severe penalties for Moscow, the authorities left legal loopholes. Indeed, if the EU is willing to buy something from Russia, it will be able to circumvent sanctions smoothly.
The European Commission unveiled its plan to ban imports of Russian gold. "It shall be prohibited to purchase, import, or transfer, directly or indirectly, gold, as listed in Annex XXVI if it originates in Russia and it has been exported from Russia into the Union or to any third country," the draft bill reads. Interestingly, gold jewellery is exempt from the list of sanctioned items. Indeed, the draft annex to the document shows that Brussels would only ban gold in powder, raw or semi-manufactured forms, as well as gold coins, waste or scrap gold. At the same time, nothing has been said about restrictions on jewellery imports such as gold chains or rings.
The same gap was left in the recent embargo on Russian oil shipments. The EU and the UK imposed restrictions on the insurance for all tankers carrying Russian oil anywhere in the world. Commodity and energy expert Vladimir Demidov said that the embargo could be easily evaded by specifying a consignor other than Russia in freight documents as well as by delivering Russian crude as an admixture in various blends.
