The EU approves the 14th package of sanctions against Russia, which hits LNG for the first time

After several weeks of heated discussions, the European Union gave its formal approval this Monday to the 14 package of sanctions against Russia for its war of aggression against Ukraine, which for the first time hits the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector.

The new sanctions are not directed against imports of Russian LNG to the European Union, so no consequences expected on prices or security of supply in the EU. Since the outbreak of the conflict, Spain has become one of the Member States that imports the most LNG from Russia.

What the EU is going to do is ban the transshipment of Russian liquefied natural gas in European ports when it is directed to non-EU countries. A measure that will be introduced with a transition period of 9 months.

[Bruselas insta “firmemente” al Gobierno a tomar medidas para frenar las importaciones de GNL de Rusia]

When Russia ships LNG from the Arctic it has to do so using very large ships, known as icebreaker, of which there are not many in the world. For this reason, it now uses several EU ports to transship this gas to smaller ships to redirect it to non-EU countries.

With this prohibition, The EU intends to make these re-export activities much more expensive for Russia to third countries. And do it without affecting world prices, because these are very small volumes, just 1% of the total supply. In addition, Brussels will veto the import of Russian LNG to three terminals located in Sweden and Finland that are not connected to the European gas network.

Finally, the new sanctions package bans all investments and exports for LNG projects under construction in Russia. The largest are Artic 2, Luga and Murmansk, whose entry into operation is scheduled for after 2027. Brussels intends to make it more difficult for Moscow to complete them and that this will affect its future income.

For the first time, the EU has adopted restrictive measures against 27 specific ships accused of contributing to Russia’s war against Ukraine: they are prohibited from entering ports and providing services. Also included in this package are the tankers that are part of the ‘dark fleet’ which Putin uses to circumvent the oil price cap.

The 14th sanctions package expands the blacklist of persons and entities considered responsible for undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine. Total, Another 69 people and 47 entities have been includedwhose assets are frozen in the EU and, in the case of natural persons, are prohibited from entering community territory.

The EU also reinforces financial sanctions against Moscow by prohibiting community banks from using the SPFS messaging system, which is the Russian equivalent of SWIFT. Banks from non-Russian non-EU countries connected to this system will not be able to do business with EU operators. Transactions with banks and cryptoasset suppliers, in Russia and non-EU countries, that contribute to the Kremlin’s defense industry base are also prohibited.

Finally, the package restricts the export to Russia of 9 other dual-use advanced technology products, including aerial and microwave amplifiers, flight data recorders, and all-terrain vehicles. In addition, the export and transfer of manganese ore is now prohibited.

“Our sanctions have already significantly weakened the Russian economy and prevented Putin from carrying out his plans to destroy Ukraine, although illegal aggression against civilians and civilian infrastructure still continues. The 14th sanctions package demonstrates our unity in supporting Ukraine and dealing with to limit Russia’s criminal activities against Ukrainians,” said the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell.