The European Commission published a statement welcoming the Council of the European Union’s adoption of the 16th sanctions package against Russia, which expands asset listings and introduces additional restrictions across energy, trade, transport, infrastructure and financial services, alongside new anti-circumvention measures. Some provisions are mirrored in the Belarus sanctions regime, and the EU has also updated and strengthened its sanctions frameworks concerning Crimea and Sevastopol and the non-government-controlled areas of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. The package adds 74 vessels to the list of sanctioned ships, bringing the total to 153, and introduces a new listing criterion targeting those who support the operations of unsafe oil tankers. It also imposes targeted export restrictions on 53 additional companies supporting Russia’s military-industrial complex or engaged in circumvention, including 34 outside Russia, and adds 83 new listings covering 48 individuals and 35 entities, including Russian crypto asset exchanges and maritime actors, with a further listing criterion tied to Russia’s military-industrial complex. Trade measures include a ban on EU imports of primary aluminium from Russia with a quota of 275,000 tonnes over 12 months (stated as 80% of EU imports in 2024), expanded dual-use and advanced technology export restrictions (including certain chemical precursors, CNC-related software, videogame controllers used to pilot drones, and chromium ores and compounds), tighter derogations and exemptions, and additional industrial goods export restrictions. Energy measures include a prohibition on temporary storage or free-zone placement in EU ports of Russian crude oil and petroleum products even where price-cap compliant and destined for a third country, an extension of the ban on goods, technology and services for completing Russian LNG projects to cover crude oil projects (including the Vostok oil project), and restrictions on oil and gas exploration software exports to Russia. Transport and infrastructure measures include a broadened flight ban framework enabling the listing of third-country carriers conducting domestic flights within Russia or supplying aviation goods to Russian airlines, a prohibition on increasing Russian ownership above 25% in EU road transport undertakings, transaction bans on specified airports and ports, and a ban on EU operators providing construction services in Russia. Financial sector measures add 13 financial institutions to the prohibition on providing specialised financial messaging services, place three banks under a transaction ban linked to use of the Central Bank of Russia’s SPFS, and extend the transaction ban to enable listing of financial institutions and crypto asset providers involved in oil price cap circumvention and transactions with listed shadow fleet vessels; the package also suspends broadcasting activities of eight additional media outlets. The Commission indicated that the legal texts will be made available in the Official Journal.

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