EU’s sixth package of sanctions against Russia enters into force

The sector-specific economic sanctions were further expanded. The EU imposed a ban on the import of Russian crude oil and petroleum products and prohibited the insuring and reinsuring of maritime transport of crude oil and petroleum products to third countries. Under certain conditions, the import ban does not apply to the implementation of contracts concluded before the entry into force of the sanctions. Similarly, under certain conditions, the ban does not apply to one-off transactions if the crude oil is delivered in the near future. There is a transition period of six months for crude oil and eight months for petroleum products. Crude oil delivered by pipeline is exempted from the import ban. However, crude oil delivered by pipeline or products made from such oil may not be transferred, transported or sold to other Member States or to third countries.

It is prohibited to export to Russia certain chemicals used in the industry. In addition, the EU expanded the ban on the export of frequency changers and prohibited the export of certain biotechnological devices.

The EU expanded the sanctions on the financial sector by excluding three new Russian banks from the SWIFT network.

The sanctions on media were expanded to include three Russian state-controlled media outlets. They were banned from broadcasting, contributing to broadcasting and disseminating information in the EU, with the exception of interviewing and investigating. In addition, the EU banned advertising in all content of the media outlets that are subjected to sanctions.

The EU expanded the list of individuals and companies subjected to sanctions. These sanctions include asset freezes and, travel and transit restrictions. The individuals added to the list are the representatives of the Russian armed forces, political actors, opinion leaders and influential leaders who support or benefit from the Russian Government and their family members. The companies added to the list have supported the Russian armed forces.

On the same occasion, the EU expanded the sanctions against Belarus by adding to new individuals and new companies that operate in sectors were products or technologies are subject to export controls to the list. In addition, the EU excluded one new Belarussian financial institution from the SWIFT network.

Official Journal of the European Union 3 June 2022

For more information, contact: Pia Sarivaara, First Secretary, Team Leader (sanctions), tel. +358 295 350 660 Heikki Yrjölä, Commercial Counsellor (export control), tel. +358 295 351 141, Saara Nikkinen, Desk Officer (individual sanctions), tel. +358 295 350 747

The email addresses of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs are in the format firstname.lastname@formin.fi