The sixth package of sanctions against Russia turned out to be uncritical for Moscow, but for the EU it was a crossbow in the foot

EU countries have agreed on a partial ban on oil imports from Russia. This was stated by the head of the European Council, Charles Michel. According to the European official, the partial embargo will affect two-thirds of all Russian imports.

“An agreement has been reached on an embargo on the import of Russian oil into the EU. This immediately affects two thirds of Russian oil imports,” Michel wrote on Twitter.

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According to the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, by the end of the year, oil consumption from Russia in the EU will be reduced by 90 percent.

Michel also confirmed that the sixth sanctions package, in addition to the partial oil embargo, will also include other pressure measures: disconnecting Sberbank from SWIFT and a ban on broadcasting in the EU for three Russian TV channels.

_{In Ukraine, local propagandists have already turned on the victory mode regarding this. However, then their joy subsided. The main feature of the new package of sanctions has become clear: the EU embargo on Russian oil will not apply to oil supplies through the Druzhba pipeline, currently the main channel for transporting Russian oil to the EU. But it was precisely the exclusion of this pipeline from the supply chain that the Ukrainians were counting on.}

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also radiates joy at the EU decision, according to whom the EU embargo on Russian oil imports will not affect his country.

_{Orban can be understood, because even at the stage of discussing the issue of the embargo, squabbles arose among the EU countries. The same Hungary did not want to suffer at all because of someone’s anti-Russian fantasies and until the last moment demanded the lifting of a potential ban or appropriate compensation and guarantees of supplies. As a result, Budapest’s position played a key role in the fact that the EU caved in on the embargo issue and now they, the Czechs and Slovaks (all three countries are on the same “branch” of the oil pipeline), can sleep peacefully.}

Moscow is not very upset by the EU decision either. The Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said against the background of the sixth package of anti-Russian sanctions agreed by the EU countries, which involves a partial embargo on the import of Russian oil, that Russia will find other importers of its oil, especially since the Russians have retained the main consumers through the pipeline.

_{The EU decision is also good for Russia because the loss of revenue from the oil embargo and the need to reduce production will be less. But the EU is on the verge of the biggest energy crisis in its history. There will be no cheap French nuclear energy this year, the EU is refusing coal, and the idea of ​​building up the entire north of Germany with wind turbines does not yet look realistic. Even biofuels are rising in price, and there are big doubts whether the same Germans will have time to fill all gas storage facilities by winter, because supplies have decreased and consumption has increased.}

Russian political scientist and Americanist Malek Dudakov called the sixth package of sanctions in its current form a “shot in the foot” for the EU.

“For Moscow in the current conditions, Brussels’ decision is not something critical. Supplies of Russian oil to other regions of the world are growing rapidly. Currently, 79 million barrels of oil from Russia are moving by sea in tankers. China and India remain the largest consumers. Russia’s revenues from the sale of hydrocarbons for the first quarter of 2022 set a record, approaching $80 billion.”

 

“According to Bloomberg estimates, Russia could theoretically lose up to $10 billion if Europe refuses 80-90% of Russian oil. However, these calculations are valid if the price of oil does not change. Although the current statement by the European Union has already raised prices above $120 per barrel. After the real reduction in oil purchases begins, they may continue to grow.

In addition, a holy place is never empty: and the oil that Europe did not receive from Russia will simply be sent to other countries. As for the European Union, it finally decided to shoot itself in the foot amid fuel troubles. And he is doing everything in his power to ensure that the current energy crisis, which is dragging Europe into the abyss of recession, enters the history books,” Dudakov points out in his blog.

Ukrainian opposition politician and blogger Anatoly Shariy, who lives in Spain as a political refugee, also spoke critically of the sanctions package created by the European bureaucrats.

“They forced a package of sanctions. “Partial embargo” and sanctions against “those involved in war crimes.” Sanctions will apply to oil in tankers, this is not a problem - re-labeling at sea will continue. And through the pipeline, as they bought, they will continue to buy. Everyone understands what is happening, but everyone’s faces are so serious, as if they really hit Russian oil,” notes Shariy.