On February 24, 2025, marking the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Union adopted its 16th package of economic and individual sanctions against Russia. This comprehensive package aims to further debilitate key sectors of the Russian economy and diminish the Kremlin’s capacity to sustain its aggressive actions.
Key components of the 16th sanctions package include:
Defense and Military Sector Targeting: Sanctions on Russian military and defense industries, including companies producing weapons, ammunition, and military technologies.
Shadow Fleet and Oil Revenue: Full sanctions on three entities transporting Russian crude oil and oil products, targeting networks that provide significant revenue to the Russian government. Moreover, the EU has adopted sanctions targeting Russia’s “shadow fleet”—vessels employed to circumvent existing oil export restrictions. The EU has listed 74 additional ships believed to be involved in evading the oil price cap, banning them from accessing EU ports.
Sanctions Circumvention and Crypto-Currency: Measures against entities and individuals involved in circumventing EU sanctions, including activities through third countries. For the first time, a Russian-based crypto-currency exchange, Garantex, linked to EU-sanctioned Russian banks, has been sanctioned.
Third-Country Actors Supporting Russia: Sanctions on third-country entities directly supporting Russia’s war efforts, including including a Chinese firm specializing in satellite imagery benefiting Russia’s military-industrial complex, and its chairman and two senior officials in the Korean People’s Army.
Combatting Russian Propaganda: Targeting propagandists and media outlets spreading Kremlin-aligned misinformation, including NewsFront and SouthFront, known for historical distortion and manipulated narratives targeting European and global audiences.
Targeted Individuals and Entities: Asset freezes and travel bans imposed on 48 individuals and 35 entities associated with the Russian government and its military operations.
Finance and Banking: The EU is imposing a transaction ban on credit or financial institutions established outside Russia that use the ‘System for Transfer of Financial Messages’ (SPFS) of the Central Bank of Russia. The prohibition on the provision of specialised financial messaging services has been extended to 13 regional banks considered to be important for the Russian financial and banking systems.
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