European ban on Russian oil products comes into effect
As of Today, Sunday – February 5th, the ban on importing Russian petroleum products, such as diesel or gasoline, into the European Union comes into force.
The measure aims to reduce Russia’s revenues from energy sales and thus its ability to finance its war on Ukraine.
According to the latest data from the European Statistical Office Eurostat, Russia exported petroleum products such as diesel worth more than 2.3 billion Euros ($2.5 billion) to the European Union in October.
Germany alone imported products worth about 558 million Euros.
The ban was decided last June as part of the sixth package of sanctions imposed by the European Union on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, and it is expected that there will be a temporary exemption for some European Union countries.
The ban imposed by the European Union on Russian oil products complements the ban on importing Russian crude oil transported by sea, which came into force as of December 5 last year.
In addition to banning imports to the European Union, the bloc and the G7 countries Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States agreed to fix the price of Russian crude oil and petroleum products by only allowing services that facilitate exports to third countries if Russian goods sold below a set price ceiling.
