BRUSSELS, July 30 (RIA Novosti) – New EU economic sanctions banning supplies of technologies and equipment for Russian projects in the oil sector are expected to affect exports worth 115 million euros ($153.8 million), an EU source told reporters Wednesday.
“This will hit trade estimated at around 115 million euros per year,” the source said, adding that the figure is based on the data of the European Commission on exports to Russia in the previous years.
EU exports to Russia of certain equipment and technologies linked to energy sector are to be preliminary approved by the competent authorities of the European Union. Export licenses will be denied if products are destined for deep water oil exploration and production, Arctic oil exploration or production and shale oil projects in Russia.
The EU sanctions are not aimed at putting immediate pressure on the current oil production in Russia and affect the oil prices, the EU official told journalists, adding that the move is aimed against the development of the sector.
“Our strategy is to be exceptionally selective and to affect only technologies, used for a range of strategic projects aimed at the long-term development of the sector. We wanted to avoid immediate impact on the current production. We did not want to put further pressure on our exporters,” the source said.
On Tuesday, the European Union agreed a new set of economic sanctions against Russia over the Ukrainian crisis, which limit access to EU capital markets for Russian state-owned financial institutions, impose an embargo on trade in arms, establish an export ban for dual-use goods for military end users, and curtail Russian access to sensitive technologies particularly in the oil sector.
Russia has repeatedly called the «language of sanctions» counterproductive and said these measures would have a boomerang effect.
