European Union bans coal imports from Russia

Accordingly, European diplomats approved an additional package of sanctions on April 7 against Moscow, including a ban on coal imports from Russia as well as a ban on most of its transport vehicles entering the EU border. .

Previously, the European Union had limited sanctions on the Russian energy sector after Germany and Hungary objected. Some EU member states are heavily dependent on Russian fossil energy.

According to sources of BloombergEU countries have argued for a long time over a ban on coal imports, as well as a list of exemptions before adopting a new sanctions package.

The new EU sanctions also target more than 10 institutions in the Russian defense sector, and four banks have been cut off from the global payment system SWIFT.

The ban could benefit U.S. miners, who have been called upon to increase exports of coal and raw fuels to Europe. However, they may find it difficult to increase the number of orders due to long-term contracts and human resource situation.

The sanctions package is also not enough to satisfy some EU countries, especially as Europe continues to buy significant amounts of Russian oil and gas.

EU member states agreed to start working immediately on a sixth package of sanctions. Some countries expect restrictive measures on oil to be added.

“Russia’s coal imports will be sanctioned but more importantly the European Commission needs to make sure and the majority of member states need to be ready to start sanctioning imports of oil, gas and nuclear fuel.” , Polish Ambassador to the EU, Andrzej Sados said.