EU prepares to embargo Russian oil

EU intends to embargo Russian oil

Finance Minister America Janet Yellen proposes imposing tariffs and thus mitigating a spike in global prices, but the European Union is preparing to embargo all oil imports from Russia next week, the New York Times on April 29 quoted experts as saying. unnamed official in Brussels.

Ambassadors of the 27 EU member states are expected to meet on May 4 to give final approval to the measure, the US news agency quoted “several EU officials and diplomats involved in the process”. .

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, pointed out that unless Hungary makes “last-minute” requests, the process will be completed without the need to call for all EU leaders to meet in Brussels.

Command Russian oil embargo potentially phased, which blocks tankers faster than pipeline routes and gives EU members time to pull out of existing contracts, similar to a 4-month extension with the coal import ban, which was introduced earlier.

The EU’s sixth Russia sanctions package will also target Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank with a significant presence in Europe, as well as prominent individuals in Russia.

Germany is believed to be the key player in this process. Berlin used to import a third of its oil from Moscow but was somehow able to cut it down to just 12%, according to German Energy Minister Robert Habeck.

“The problem seems huge to Virtue just a few weeks ago has become much smaller. Germany has come very close to being independent from Russian oil imports,” Minister Habeck said during a visit to Poland this week.

Russia supplies about 25% of the EU’s total annual oil needs in 2020, and the bloc accounts for half of Russia’s oil exports. Brussels intends to fill the gap in increased imports from Nigeria, exporters in the Persian Gulf, as well as Russia’s neighbors Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, unnamed officials told the New York Times.

Last week, the US Treasury Department asked the EU to impose a price ceiling or tax on Russian oil imports, but that was not attractive enough for Brussels.

Response to a request for payment in rubles

US and EU sanctions force Russia to demand gas payments in rubles. While Brussels has officially objected to the request, four of the bloc’s members are said to have made payments under the new Russian ruble-based mechanism, and at least 10 have set up ruble accounts with Gazprombank of Russia.

Meanwhile, some countries refuse to pay. Russia has stopped delivering gas to Poland and Bulgaria after the two European countries refused to pay in Russian rubles.

On April 29, Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said that Prague does not plan to pay for Russian gas in rubles, at the request of Moscow.

Danish energy group Orsted also signaled that it did not intend to pay for gas in Russian currency.

Orsted has a long-term gas supply contract with Gazprom for an annual supply of up to 2 billion cubic meters, lasting from 2011 to 2030.

Meanwhile, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjarto said that a number of European companies importing Russian gas had agreed to Moscow’s payment plan. Minister Szijjarto explained, to buy gasimport companies open 2 accounts with Gazprombank, one in euros or USD and the other in rubles.

In another related development, Russian gas corporation Gazprom announced on April 29 that it is canceling depository receipts from international stock exchanges after the Russian government did not approve the further circulation. .

A statement on the company’s website says shareholders will have the “right to convert them into common shares”.

Gazprom also said it had notified the UK’s financial regulator of its intention to delist the standard on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The company has also requested the LSE and the Singapore exchange to delete the company’s certificates of custody within 20 working days.

Under the new law, securities of Russian companies can only be traded on foreign exchanges with special permission from the Russian authorities.

Last month, the LSE blocked the transactions of 27 Russian corporations, including EN+, Gazprom, Lukoil, Rosneft and Sberbank. The blacklisting is part of a Western effort to exclude Russia from international financial markets following the military campaign in Syria. Ukraine.