The EU will tighten sanctions against oil companies in the Russian Federation, but will not prohibit oil imports - Reuters

The European Union is preparing to impose new sanctions against Russian oil companies Rosneft, Transneft and Gazpromneft, but will continue to buy raw materials from them, Reuters reports with reference to the EU source. It is expected that three Russian companies will encounter an investment ban, which will freeze financing their projects for exploration and development of deposits of all types of fuel. The transfer of technologies necessary for exploration and oil production will also be prohibited.

Already now there is a ban on loans and debt financing in relation to the listed companies.

Despite this, according to the Reuters source, many governments of the countries included in the European Union asked for exceptions that would allow EU companies to continue to buy oil from Russia. According to the agency, it was this request that led to the delay with the approval of new sanctions, which were initially approved on March 13.

The European Union on the issue of sanctions takes a less stringent position than the United States, which last week introduced a ban on the entire import of Russian oil and gas. And the UK decided to stop the import of Russian oil and oil products by the end of 2022.