New sanctions of the European Union against Russia for annexation referendums

First modification: 09/29/2022 – 05:20

This is the eighth package of sanctions for Russia. In a proposal for the 27 countries that make up the European Union (EU), Ursula Von der Leyen said that the Bloc should impose “tough sanctions” on Russian trade and direct reprisals against the officials responsible for the “false referendums” of annexation of the four regions under total or partial control of the Russians in Ukraine.

“We do not accept the fake referendum and any kind of annexation in Ukraine, and we are determined to make the Kremlin pay for this new escalation. So today we are together proposing a new package of scathing sanctions against Russia. We propose radical new import bans on Russian products. This will keep Russian products out of the European market and deprive Russia of €7 billion. additional income,” Von der Leyen assured.

The new package of sanctions proposed by the European leader was published on social networks as follows:

• Prohibitions on the provision of European services to Russia
• Prohibition for EU citizens to be part of the Government of Russian state-owned companies.
• Import bans on Russian products.
• Prohibition of export of particular products to Russia
• Setting a legal basis for an oil price cap.
• Crackdown on sanctions evasion.

“We are increasing the list of people and entities that have been sanctioned (…) This list is aimed at top decision makers, oligarchs, top military officers, and propagandists responsible for undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine,” he explained.

However, the proposal, which includes more than 1,300 Russian individuals and entities, still needs to be endorsed by all EU members to be launched.

Under the measure, people who help Russia circumvent sanctions could also face sanctions.

Contraction of the Russian economy due to Western sanctions

The retaliation that the Western bloc has taken against Russia for the invasion of Ukraine has directly affected the Gross Domestic Product of that country in recent months.

According to reports from the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, in August the economy shrank by 4.1%; a figure that presented a slight fall when compared to the months of July (4.3%), June (5%) and May (4.5%).

According to the Russian economic portfolio, the figure for the month of August is due to the extractive industry, the agricultural sector and construction. Well, in these three areas the country reported higher profits

The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, has repeatedly been very optimistic about the way in which his country has rebounded from Western sanctions and under this idea Moscow has predicted a smaller GDP contraction by the end of the year (2 .9%), while experts point out that it will be at least 4.3%

With EFE, AP and Reuters