New EU sanctions against Russia will come into force

The European Commission announced the sixth round of sanctions against Russia on the 3rd, including some oil embargoes, sanctions on Russian oil tankers, banks and media
.

The European Commission issued a communiqué on the same day saying that the sanctions will take effect immediately and will gradually reduce Russian oil imports
.
The EU will stop buying Russian seaborne crude oil within 6 months, which accounts for two-thirds of the EU's imports of Russian crude oil, and stop buying Russian oil products
within 8 months.
By the end of 2022, the EU's oil imports from Russia will be reduced by 90%.

Member states that rely on Russian pipeline crude oil can be granted temporary exemptions until the EU Council decides
otherwise, the communiqué said.
However, Member States benefiting from the exemption may not resell such crude oil and refined products to other Member States or third countries
.
The communiqué also said that EU companies are prohibited from providing insurance and reinsurance
for merchant ships carrying Russian oil.
New insurance contracts will be banned immediately and existing ones will be phased out
within six months.

On the same day, the European Union also excluded three banks, including Russia's largest bank, Sberbank, and a Belarusian bank, from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Communication system
.
EU accounting, lobbying, PR and consultancy firms are banned from providing services
to Russian entities.
In addition, the EU has suspended broadcast licenses for three Russian state media and has not allowed EU companies to advertise
in these media.

As early as the beginning of May, the European Union proposed a sixth round of sanctions against Russia, planning to phase out Russian oil
imports by the end of the year.
But Hungary, which is highly dependent on Russian oil, has made clear its opposition, stressing that Hungary has no access to the sea and that the economy will be severely damaged if Russian oil pipelines are
cut off.
At a special EU summit held on May 30-31, the leaders of EU member states agreed to grant exemptions to the oil embargo on Hungary and other countries and agreed
to a sixth round of sanctions against Russia.