EU to Increase Russia sanctions list

The European Union is set to increase Russia sanction list.

According to the commission, Russia’s top lender Sberbank and the head of giant zinc and copper firm UMMC would be added to its list of individuals and companies banned for supporting Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Sanctions List
Other 48 individuals and nine entities to be added to the sanctions list, prepared by the EU foreign affairs service, also include a motorcycle club, actors, politicians, and family members of previously sanctioned businesspeople.

Report says Adding Sberbank would freeze its assets in the West and completely prevent transactions with the exception of financial operations for the trade in food and fertilizer.

Russia’s largest lender had already been excluded from the SWIFT bank messaging system, hampering its ability to conduct business.

Transactions for the wind-down of its subsidiary in Europe will continue to be allowed for six months.

The head of zinc and copper giant UMMC, Andrei Kozitsyn, is being added to the list as he is considered to be “involved in economic sectors providing a substantial source of revenue to the government,” an EU official said.

Sanctions Rules
Sanctions rules will however be revised to ensure Russian banks previously added to the list can use some frozen funds to trade food and fertilizers, a measure meant to eliminate inadvertent hurdles to global food trade.

The move, expected to be adopted on Wednesday, would take to 1,229 the total number of individuals banned by the EU over the war in Ukraine, and increase to 110 the number of listed companies.

REUTERS/CO