THE European Union will east sanctions against Russian oil exports after a weekend of wrangling over whether the ban should include prohibitions of exporting through third countries, reports Bloomberg.
Greece, whose economy relies on shipping, wanted the provision on exporting via third countries to be dropped from EU sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Thus, the EU will drop a proposed ban on EU-owned vessels transporting Russian oil to third countries, according to documents seen by Bloomberg.
Critically, a prohibition on insurance is still in the works and would remain a significant impediment to exports.
The measure would have further dented Moscow's exports - a vital source of hard currency - especially given that Greeks own more than a quarter of the world's oil tankers by capacity.
The ban on providing insurance would span the vast majority of the global fleet of oil tankers seeking to transport Russian barrels.
EU countries are still trying to overcome objections from Hungary to a proposed ban on Russian oil. In its initial proposal, the EU had planned to prohibit the transportation, including through ship-to-ship transfers, to third countries of crude oil and petroleum products that originate in Russia, or have been exported from Russia.
The EU had offered Hungary and Slovakia until the end of 2024 to comply with the measures and the Czech Republic until June of the same year since they are heavily reliant on Russian crude. Bulgaria was also seeking a similar transition period, the people said.
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Greece, whose economy relies on shipping, wanted the provision on exporting via third countries to be dropped from EU sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Thus, the EU will drop a proposed ban on EU-owned vessels transporting Russian oil to third countries, according to documents seen by Bloomberg.
Critically, a prohibition on insurance is still in the works and would remain a significant impediment to exports.
The measure would have further dented Moscow's exports - a vital source of hard currency - especially given that Greeks own more than a quarter of the world's oil tankers by capacity.
The ban on providing insurance would span the vast majority of the global fleet of oil tankers seeking to transport Russian barrels.
EU countries are still trying to overcome objections from Hungary to a proposed ban on Russian oil. In its initial proposal, the EU had planned to prohibit the transportation, including through ship-to-ship transfers, to third countries of crude oil and petroleum products that originate in Russia, or have been exported from Russia.
The EU had offered Hungary and Slovakia until the end of 2024 to comply with the measures and the Czech Republic until June of the same year since they are heavily reliant on Russian crude. Bulgaria was also seeking a similar transition period, the people said.
SeaNews Turkey