Ukraine Invasion: EU to ban Russia’s oil

“Finally, we now propose a ban on Russian oil

HILLARY ESSIEN • May 4, 2022

Russian President, Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy

The European Union has declared its plans to ban trading with Russian oil by the end of the year. This is part of its sixth package of sanctions rolled out against Moscow for its three month military assault in Ukraine.

Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, notified the European Parliament that EU member states should move to phase out imports of crude oil within six months, and refined products by the end of 2022.

“Finally, we now propose a ban on Russian oil. Let´s be clear: it will not be easy. But we simply have to work on it. We will make sure that we phase out Russian oil in an orderly fashion. To maximise pressure on Russia, while minimising the impact on our economies,” Ms von der Leyen said in a tweet.

Oil prices rose after the announcement. Brent crude was up more than 3.7 per cent for the day.

Florian Thaler, chief executive of OilX, an energy research firm, told the New York Times that Russia’s oil sales to Europe were worth $310 million a day.

Yahoo Finance, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that countries like Hungary and Slovakia, highly dependent on Russia’s oil, would be given until the end of 2023 to enforce the sanctions.

Other sanctions in the new package against Moscow include naming Russian officials responsible for the war crimes committed in Bucha and Mariupol, shutting out Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, from the SWIFT international banking payment system, a ban on three Russian state broadcasters and sanctioning the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill.

Sberbank Europe, whose majority shareholder is Russia, has begun winding down operations in Europe by selling its assets.

Sberbank Europe said it had reached a deal to sell its subsidiaries in Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary, Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to a group including Serbia’s AIK bank and Slovenia’s Gorenjska bank.

In March, the Financial Market Authority of Austria had ordered the bank to cease operations in the country and appointed a state administrator.

Sberbank Europe said that several of its banks had “experienced a significant outflow of customer deposits within a very short period of time.”

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