The Committee of the Ambassadors of the 27 reached in Brussels An agreement on the 18th package of penalties to Russia.
This is what you learn from multiple diplomatic sources at the end of the coreper. Formal adoption is now expected to the General Affairs Council today. The agreement includes new and significant measures in the energy, financial and commercial fields and the introduction of a new dynamic mechanism of Oil Price Cap which will set the price of 15% less than the average market price of Russian crude oil: the price will be reduced by 60 cents of US dollar at around $ 47.6 per barrel.
The 18th pack of EU sanctions then introduces a new prohibition of transaction relating to north stream 1 and 2 and involves the addition of 105 new ships of the so -called shadow fleet. The current limitation on the SWIFT bank transactions system is transformed into a total ban, and the list of banking institutions is almost doubled by inserting 22 other Russian banks. Russia’s access to dual/advanced use technologies is then further limited. Thus we bring the current number of ships to the list of the shadow fleet to over 400 (three Japanese ships have been deleted from the list). A prohibition of importing refined oil products obtained from Russian raw oil obtained in any third country (with the exception of Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Switzerland) is expected. This aims to fill a escapade that allows Russia indirect exports of crude oil used for refining purposes. There is therefore a ban on transaction on the Russian fund for direct investments, on its investments and on the financial institutions that support them, to further limit Russian access to global financial markets and foreign currency.
“I welcome the agreement on our 18th pack of penalties against Russia – writes the president of the EU Commission on X Ursula von der leyen -. We are hitting the heart of the Russian war machine, targeting the banking, energy and military-industrial sectors and including a new maximum dynamic roof at the price of oil. The pressure is high. And it will remain so until Putin will end this war. Thanks to the Danish Presidency of the EU Council for this first success “.