Reuters: EU eases ban on tankers in 12th package of sanctions against Russia

European Union countries are close to an agreement on a proposed 12th package of sanctions against Russia, focused on a ban on diamonds of Russian origin and new measures to restrict Russian oil supplies, citing four people familiar with the matter, Reuters reported on December 11, UNN reported.

Details

While the bulk of the new measures are a ban on non-industrial Russian diamonds, EU countries are also seeking to make it harder to circumvent the sanctions, including a ceiling on Group of Seven oil prices, the newspaper said.

The text reportedly includes tougher measures to prove that Russian oil is trading below the price ceiling, as compliance has been weakening in recent months.

"However, one element aimed at preventing Russia from building up its so-called shadow fleet has been softened," the newspaper writes.

Initially, the European Commission was said to have wanted to ban the sale of used tankers to Russian companies or their use in Russia, as well as to organizations that could use tankers to circumvent the G7 oil price ceiling, "but this point was dropped." One source said that Mediterranean countries with strong shipping companies are concerned that these measures could put them at a competitive disadvantage.

"In the latest draft, shipping companies now only need to 'report' such sales," the newspaper said.

Officials from EU member states were due to meet Monday evening and were expected to make further changes to the text, but not substantial ones, the sources said, adding that it could even be adopted later on Monday.

Article 12G in the proposal was also reportedly refined to a shorter list of dual-use goods, including weapons, as most EU countries said the original list of customs codes was too broad and would have harmed their foreign trade.

In the proposed package, EU companies are said to have to force their counterparties to sign contracts that prohibit re-exports to Russia. According to sources, this article would apply to existing contracts with a phased transition.

The latest working draft also abolishes the requirement of prior authorization by member states for "any transfer of funds" by a Russian legal entity or Russian citizen residing in Russia from the EU. Instead, banks and Russian legal entities or individuals will have to report transfers of at least EUR 100,000 (USD 107,510) to the relevant national EU regulators, who will then report them to the EU executive.

The biggest point of disagreement, as indicated, remains the exemption of goods for personal use, with member states arguing whether cars with Russian license plates imported into the EU should be exempted.

Member states are also continuing negotiations on transitional periods for the introduction of import bans on certain metal products, such as steel slabs and iron.

The most significant new measure is a direct ban on imports of non-industrial Russian diamonds from January 1, which sources say has already been agreed upon, as well as a phased indirect ban on imports of Russian diamonds from other sources.

The latter will reportedly be done jointly with the Group of Seven countries, which announced a ban on Russian diamonds last week.