Page 18 - RusRPTJan23

is heavily dependent on Russian oil, have blocked that decision. Likewise, talks on lowering a gas price cap from the current compromise price of €225/MWh to €130/MWh have also got bogged down in wrangling.
Sanctions on metals and mining have been mooted and may be included in subsequent sanction packages in 2023, but as Russia is so deeply integrated in the international metals business, the topic was not broached in the ninth package discussions, which were proving difficult enough as it was.
Fertilisers are a tricky topic, as many European countries also remain heavily dependent on Russian imports, as the latter is one of the biggest producers of fertilisers in the world.
Poland and Lithuania have protested against the exemptions proposed by other EU member states to allow Russian companies and businessmen associated with the supply of food and fertilisers to the world market to maintain supplies. In a compromise deal that allowed the ninth package talks to conclude, European companies will be allowed to do business with companies in the sector owned by sub-sanctioned "oligarchs", but only if they supplied products for export before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to Euronews. That means that fertilisers produced by oligarch Andrey Melnichenko and with his wife from his EuroChem plant will be allowed. In addition, Andrey Guryev, who owns Phosagro, Moshe Kantor (Akron), Dmitry Mazepin (Uralchem and Uralkali) and Vadim Moshkovich (Rusagro) will also be permitted.
New names on EU list Amongst the 200 new names on the EU list are several media personalities and the owner of the National Media Group, Yuri Kovalchuk, with his family.
Bloomberg has learned that the list will also include seven governors allegedly involved in the kidnapping of Ukrainian children; Russia insists that the children have been taken out for their own safety. Officials involved in the theft of Ukrainian agricultural products have also been included.
Amongst the product bans are the supply of dual-use chemicals, electronics and motors for drones to Russia and to “any third countries, such as Iran, that can supply drones to Russia”.
Three banks, including Rosneft Bank, and four media channels are also included in the sanctions. The state-owned media companies will lose their broadcast licences in Europe.
Opponents of the easing managed to achieve other important concessions: each deal must be approved by the European Commission on an individual basis, and all of them can be blocked for reasons of national security at the national level. Thus Lithuania will be able to block the transit of Russian fertilisers through Klaipeda. However, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called the exceptions "a blow to the entire sanctions regime".
US list The US has also introduced new sanctions in parallel with the EU this week. The highest profile name that will be included on a parallel US list released this week is oligarch Vladimir Potanin, one of Russia’s wealthiest men
18 RUSSIA Country Report January 2023 www.intellinews.com