The European Union continues discussions on filling the 12th package of sanctions against Russia, which may be announced in October, for example, during the EU-US summit.
Bloomberg writes about this with reference to sources.
The “G7” countries are promoting the idea of banning purchases of diamonds from Russia and also support the proposal to hand over confiscated Russian assets to Ukraine.
Some EU members, including Poland and the Baltic states, are calling for new sanctions against Russiaʼs liquefied gas, nuclear, and IT sectors. However, there are still countries that are against it.
Poland wants to strengthen sanctions on some goods adopted in previous packages. Proposals include reducing quotas on synthetic rubber imports, making steel restrictions more effective, and more. Warsaw is also seeking a new package of sanctions against Belarus.
The package of sanctions against the Russian Federation is likely to include further steps to suppress Russiaʼs ability to circumvent EU sanctions through third countries such as the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.
In the coming weeks, the European Commission will put forward proposals to introduce a tax on excess profits from the profits that the frozen assets of the Russian central bank generate in clearinghouses, despite opposition from the European Central Bank.
- On September 7, the United States announced that, for the first time, it would transfer the confiscated assets of Russian oligarchs to Ukraine. We are talking about $5.4 million, which will go to support Ukrainian veterans. Later, Estonia announced that it plans to become the first country in the EU to transfer confiscated Russian assets to Ukraine.
- Since the beginning of Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Western countries have begun to freeze Russian assets. Official representatives of our country expect that these assets will be confiscated and transferred to Ukraine. In particular, such an initiative has already begun to be seriously considered in the USA. On February 3, Attorney General Merrick Garland for the first time allowed the confiscation of the Russian oligarchʼs funds to be transferred to Ukraine.
- Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the EU has frozen the assets of the Russian Central Bank for more than €200 billion. A significant part of these funds is kept in the Euroclear depository and has already brought almost €750 million in profit in the first quarter of 2023. In addition, the EU has frozen €24.1 billion in assets belonging to Russians and Russian companies under sanctions.