The European Commission welcomed the Council’s adoption of the European Union’s 18th package of sanctions against Russia, centred on five strands: reducing energy revenues, tightening financial sector restrictions, further weakening the military-industrial complex, strengthening anti-circumvention tools, and expanding accountability-related designations, alongside new sanctions on Belarus. The package brings total listed vessels linked to Russia’s shadow fleet to 444 and total individual listings to over 2,500. Key measures include lowering the crude oil price cap from USD 60 to USD 47.6 and introducing an automatic review mechanism that keeps the cap 15% below the average Urals crude market price over the previous six months, a transaction ban for Nord Stream 1 and 2, and an import ban on refined oil products derived from Russian crude processed outside Russia and delivered into the EU. Financial measures convert the ban on providing specialised financial messaging services to certain Russian banks into a full transaction ban, covering 23 entities and adding 22 more banks for a total of 45, broaden transaction bans to specified third-country financial operators including crypto-asset providers linked to circumvention, and introduce a transaction ban targeting the Russian Direct Investment Fund, its subsidiaries, its investments and supporting financial institutions, including four RDIF-invested companies. The package also adds 105 vessel listings (with three LNG tankers delisted following commitments), extends listings across the shadow fleet value chain, expands export restrictions and bans (including measures corresponding to almost EUR 2.1 billion of exports in 2024 terms), adds 26 entities linked to circumvention (including in Türkiye and China/Hong Kong), expands the Russia transit ban by eight Combined Nomenclature codes, introduces a dedicated catch-all to address advanced-technology circumvention risks, and adds 55 further listings targeting military supply chains, including firms in China and eight companies in Belarus’s military-industrial complex. Additional measures introduce protective restrictions linked to investor-to-state dispute settlement to mitigate arbitration risks for Member States, and Belarus measures include arms procurement prohibitions, stricter financial restrictions, additional export controls, and new entity listings. The legal texts are expected to be published in the Official Journal.
European Commission 2025-07-18
European Commission sets out Council-adopted 18th Russia sanctions package lowering the oil price cap and tightening banking and shadow fleet restrictions
The European Commission announced the EU's 18th sanctions package against Russia, focusing on reducing energy revenues, tightening financial restrictions, and expanding accountability-related designations, with new sanctions on Belarus. Key measures include lowering the crude oil price cap to USD 47.6, a transaction ban for Nord Stream 1 and 2, and expanded financial and export restrictions. The package targets the Russian Direct Investment Fund and adds listings related to military supply chains and circumvention risks.