New EU economic sanctions against Russia come into effect

Brussels: New economic sanctions imposed by the European Union (EU) against Russia for its involvement in the crisis in Ukraine have come into effect with EU publishing them Friday in its official journal.

The measures, which affect the oil sector, will be reviewed before the end of the month to decide whether to annul or modify these, depending on the evolution of the ceasefire and the peace plan for Ukraine.

The new sanctions are more restrictive than those adopted last July on the capital markets, defence products and sensitive dual-use technologies.

In particular, the new sanctions limit funding to three oil companies - Rosneft, Transneft and Gazpromneft - and three companies in the defence sector -- United Aircraft Corporation, Oboronprom and Uralvagonzavod.

The gas sector has currently been left out of the sanctions.

A list of defence sector joint venture companies was added to the list of companies that cannot export dual civilian and military use products.

The sanctions also include travel restrictions and freezing of assets of 24 Russian leaders, and the pro-Russian figures from Crimea and the Donbass region. This extends the list of people already under sanctions to 119 individuals.

Among the list are the new pro-Russian separatist leaders Alexander Zakharchenko, prime minister of the self-proclaimed People's Republic of Donetsk, and the prime minister of the self-proclaimed Republic of Lugansk, in addition to the ministers of defence and state of Donetsk security, Vladimir Kononov Yurevich and Andrey Pinchuk, respectively.

The 28 EU members agreed a week ago to expand the restriction of access to the capital markets by large state banks to Russian defence and energy consortia which are 51 percent controlled by the state, or whose income is driven by at least 50 percent from the sale of crude oil and petroleum products.