The European Union (EU) sanctioned five businessmen and four organizations for allegedly facilitating the operations of the so-called Russian “ghost fleet”, used by Moscow to circumvent Western sanctioning measures against oil sales, it was announced this Monday, December 15th.
In a statement, the Council of the European Union announced that it had applied restrictions to five businessmen for “directly or indirectly” facilitating the operations of vessels that will be part of the “ghost fleet” and for links to the Russian oil company Rosneft and Lukoil.
The EU Council accuses these individuals and companies of “providing a considerable source of revenue” for the Russian government, which is then channeled to fuel the conflict in Ukraine.
At the same time, the EU states that it believes that these businessmen and companies control vessels and are responsible for transporting oil and oil products, and for “high-risk practices”.
The companies targeted by sanctions come from Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam.
As with all those targeted by the EU sanctions regime, Those sanctioned cannot transit through the countries of the European Community bloc and all resources they have in any of the 27 countries are frozen.
Ukraine has relied on financial and weapons aid from Western allies since Russia invaded the country on February 24, 2022.
Kiev’s allies have also enacted sanctions against key sectors of the Russian economy to try to diminish Moscow’s ability to finance the war effort in Ukraine.