The EU may make Rosneft and Gazprom Neft less competitive compared to other VIOCs

14.03.2022       

BRUSSELS, March 14 (Reuters) - EU states intend to impose new sanctions against the largest Russian oil companies Rosneft, Transneft and Gazprom Neft, but will continue to buy oil from them, a source told Reuters on Monday. These three companies are already subject to EU restrictions on loans and debt financing. Under the new package to be discussed later on Monday by senior EU diplomats, they will also face an investment ban that is expected to freeze their funding from EU sources in new projects for the extraction and exploration of all fossil fuels. But as a sign of EU concern over the impact of sanctions on oil prices and supplies, EU governments insisted on making it clear that the new measures would not prevent EU states and companies from buying oil from the three Russian companies, the source said. This contrasts with the US move last week to ban oil imports from Russia, which sent oil prices skyrocketing. The US does not import as much gas from Russia as the EU.
According to the official, under the new EU sanctions on Rosneft, Transneft and Gazprom Neft a "transaction ban" will be imposed, which will block investments and other transfers of financial resources to them. & laquo;We will propose a big ban on new European investments in the energy sector of Russia,», — Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, said on Friday, after announcing the sanctions but without specifying the companies targeted. “This ban will apply to all investments, technology transfer, financial services, and so on, related to the exploration and production of energy,” — she added.
According to the source, many EU governments have requested exemptions that would allow EU companies to pay their bills to large Russian companies and continue to buy their oil. This request led to a slight delay in the approval of the new sanctions, which were originally submitted for approval on Sunday. After making some changes to the legal texts,