EU ambassadors fail to approve 15th package of sanctions against Russia
6 December 23:24
On December 6, the ambassadors of the European Union failed to approve the 15th package of sanctions against Russia. This was reported by Komersant ukrainskyi with reference to Reuters.
This package includes restrictive measures against Russia’s shadow fleet, as well as the continuation of imports of Russian oil products through Slovakia for the Czech Republic.
The decision was blocked by the two countries due to disagreements over the extension of the deadline for European companies to withdraw investments from Russia. Therefore, EU members will return to consider the package later.
The package also includes sanctions on tankers carrying Russian oil.
The Czech Republic has said that it does not expect the agreement to be extended, but Slovakia is seeking to preserve the agreement, which expired on Thursday, December 5.
As you know, the EU has banned imports of most oil from Russia after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. However, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary were exempted from sanctions due to the lack of other supplies.
At the same time, the Czech Republic is modernizing the pipeline from Italy to Germany to transport more oil via this route and completely abandon Russian crude oil by the second half of 2025.
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Europe and gas
As of the beginning of 2022, the EU was 40% dependent on Russian gas. In 2021, 65% of the gas purchased by Germany was Russian. In the third quarter of 2023, only 12% of the gas imported by the EU remains Russian.
The current contract for gas supplies to Europe through the Ukrainian gas transportation system expires in December 2024. Both sides have made it clear that they are not going to extend it.
At the same time, some EU countries remain dependent on Russian gas, such as Hungary, Slovakia, and Austria. These countries’ contracts with Gazprom provide for gas supplies through the Ukrainian gas transportation system. For example, Austria signed a contract for gas supplies until 2040.
After both Nord Stream and the Ukrainian GTS are shut down, Russia will be able to supply gas to Europe only through the Turkish Stream.
According to the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, the European Union has bought 207 billion euros worth of energy from Russia.
