12 September 2014
The Official EU Journal published on Sept. 12 the fourth round of sanctions against the Russian Federation government, which are geared towards the energy sector, the Interfax news agency reported. Among the enterprises targeted are oil firms Rosneft, Transneft and Gazprom Neft and the sanctions restrict cooperation in developing hard-to-reach oil reserves.
The sanctions also target an additional 24 Russian and Ukrainian politicians alleged to be responsible for the violence in the Donbas region, including Russian Duma MP Aleksandr Babakov and Donetsk People’s Republic leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko. The individual sanctions consist of visa bans and asset freezes.
In all, the EU sanctions apply to 119 Russian and Ukrainian citizens, while the assets of 23 companies remain frozen, according to a statement released by the EU Council on Sept. 11. EU companies and citizens are also forbidden from offering loans and brokerage services to the five largest Russian state banks, the three large defense firms and the three largest energy enterprises.
The U.S. government will disclose its next round of sanctions on Sept. 12, U.S. President Barack Obama said in a Sept. 11 statement. The sanctions are intended to further isolate Russia politically, the statement said, as well as inflict economic losses in the defense, energy and financial spheres, which are critical to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his entourage. “We are implementing these news measures in light of Russia’s actions, which have further destabilized Ukraine in the last month, including by means of the presence of Russian Armed Forces in eastern Ukraine,” the statement said.
The sanctions can be canceled if Russia fulfills its obligations under the ceasefire agreement completely, the statement said. “We are carefully watching the events since the moment of the declared ceasefire agreement in Minsk, but we don’t see so far convincing evidence that Russia has already ceased its efforts in destabilizing Ukraine,” the statement said.
Zenon Zawada: The occupation of eastern Ukraine by Russian forces in late August has demonstrated that the restraining effect of the sanctions has worn thin. The late August attacks were conducted by the Russian government with the full knowledge that a new round of sanctions would be in the pipeline. So we expect these sanctions won’t stop the Russian government from escalating the violence in eastern Ukraine in the coming weeks.