Greece Secures LNG Exemption After Protracted Veto Battle
The path to the European Union’s 21st sanctions package proved fractious, with Athens emerging as the final holdout over proposed restrictions on maritime trade. According to Euractiv, Greece demanded carve-outs to protect its massive merchant fleet, specifically seeking exemptions for companies like Greek LNG shipper Dynagas to continue transporting Russian liquefied natural gas to non-EU markets.
The transport company, owned by Greek billionaire George Prokopiou, has chartered 11 vessels—including seven Arctic-resistant icebreakers—to Russia’s largest gas facility, Yamal LNG. The Greek government and industry representatives argued that a strict transport ban would damage European maritime services, destroy jobs, and empower non-EU competitors without crippling Moscow’s war chest.
The impasse ended when Ireland brokered a compromise. Governments agreed to a renewable one-year exemption allowing companies to transfer Russian LNG to third countries for contracts established before the invasion in February 2022, subject to annual reviews where Athens can wield its veto power.
Freezing the G7 Oil Price Cap at Forty-Four Dollars
To avert an automatic market shift, EU capitals raced to lock down the G7 oil price cap before an impending expiration. Under formulas established prior to the Middle East conflict, the cap risked jumping from $44 to $58 a barrel, a move that would have handed the Kremlin a substantial financial windfall as Russia maintains battlefield momentum.
von der Leyen added on social media that our sanctions continue to weaken the economic foundations of Russia’s war effort
at a critical juncture for Ukrainian forces.
Concessions on Fish, Patriarch Kirill, and Banking Assets
While the package ultimately blacklists roughly 250 additional individuals and entities—along with expanding restrictions on the Russian shadow fleet, crypto platforms, and battlefield metals—several initial proposals were significantly diluted or stripped away entirely during weeks of tense negotiations.
France, Italy, Germany, and Portugal all chipped away at measures designed to exert maximum pressure on Moscow. An ambitious proposal from Baltic states to ban Russian soldiers from entering the Schengen Area was downgraded to a commitment to continue practical implementation after pushback from Rome and Paris over administrative burdens. Plans to phase out Russian fish imports, such as cod and pollack, were abandoned following objections from Germany and Portugal.
Bulgaria successfully blocked efforts to sanction Patriarch Kirill, the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, and removed billionaire Lukoil founder Vagit Alekperov from the blacklist. Meanwhile, Austria secured a political commitment after member states agreed to consider its request to lift sanctions on Rasperia, a blacklisted investment company, to offset a €2.1 billion loss incurred by Raiffeisen Bank International in Russia.
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