New EU sanctions on Russia to target Sberbank, Commission head tells paper

The emblem is on display in an office environment of the Russian premier financial institution Sberbank in Moscow, Russia December 24, 2020. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

FRANKFURT, April 16 (Reuters) – The European Union’s forthcoming sanctions on Russia will focus on financial institutions, in distinct Sberbank (SBER.MM), as properly as oil, the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen instructed a German newspaper.

Bild am Sonntag, in an interview revealed on Sunday, requested her to title the key details of a planned sixth round of sanctions.

“We are on the lookout even more at the banking sector, specifically Sberbank, which accounts for 37% of the Russian banking sector. And, of training course, there are power problems,” she mentioned.

The EU has so considerably spared Russia’s greatest financial institution from past sanctions rounds because it, alongside with Gazprombank, is just one of the primary channels for payments for Russian oil and fuel, which EU nations around the world have been acquiring even with the conflict in Ukraine. go through more

She also said that the EU was functioning on “clever mechanisms” so that oil could also be involved in the subsequent sanctions.

“What should really not occur is that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin collects even increased selling prices on other markets for provides that would otherwise go to the EU,” she was quoted as expressing.

“The prime priority is to shrink Putin’s revenues,” she said.

Reporting by Tom Sims enhancing by David Evans

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