What the 11th package of sanctions against Russia proposed by the EU brings

The European Commission presented to EU member states on Friday an 11th package of restrictive measures against Russia aimed at preventing circumvention of European sanctions, its spokesman announced on Monday. “The goal is to prevent goods prohibited from exporting to Russia from finding a way to supply the Russian military complex,” Eric Mamer explained.

The Commission proposal targets 541 companies, including 526 Russian, and includes for the first time eight Chinese and Hong Kong companies accused of re-exporting sensitive products to Russia, according to a document seen by AFP. Also targeted are an Iranian company, 2 companies from the United Arab Emirates, 2 companies based in Uzbekistan, one in Armenia and one in Syria. The Commission proposes to restrict the export possibilities of these companies.

155 pages

The proposal does not mention the ban on importing diamonds from Russia, which is demanded by many member states. The measure should be discussed at the G7 meeting scheduled for May 19-21 in Hiroshima, Japan, and could be added if agreed, a diplomatic source explained. The eleventh package will be discussed on Wednesday by the representatives of the member states in Brussels and several meetings will be necessary to reach its adoption, because the proposal is very technical, explained two diplomatic sources in Brussels.

An adoption before the meeting of EU foreign ministers scheduled for May 22-23 is considered “unlikely”, but the new sanctions package could be presented to EU leaders at their summit on June 30. . The European Union wants to equip itself with the means to fight against the circumvention of its sanctions and tries to discourage foreign companies and third countries from helping Moscow by re-exporting to Russia goods that can be used by the Russian military-industrial complex, in particular semiconductors. and integrated circuits, stressed the diplomatic source.

Therefore, the proposal targets refrigerators, printers, electronic calculators and other products. The list has 155 pages. The EU has seen an increase in imports of goods with electronic components into Turkey, Kazakhstan, China and the United Arab Emirates and their re-export to Russia, an EU diplomat said.