The European Commission (EC) said that Bulgaria will be able to continue to import crude oil and petroleum products from Russia by sea until the end of 2024, while Croatia will be able to receive imports of Russian vacuum gas oil, which it needs to operate its refinery, until the end of 2023.
These are some of exemptions from the EU-wide ban on Russian oil imports which forms part of the newly-adopted sixth package of sanctions in response to Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The Commission said that member states who have a particular pipeline dependency on Russia can benefit from a temporary exemption and continue to receive crude oil delivered by pipeline, until the EU Council decides otherwise, adding that such member states will not be able to resell the imported products to third parties.
Despite initial discord between member states, EU leaders managed to agree to cut imports of seaborne crude oil and petroleum products, which cover 90 % of current EU oil imports from Russia.
Under the latest sanctions package, EU operators will be prohibited from insuring and financing the transport, in particular by sea routes, of oil and petroleum products to third countries after a transition period of six months, thus further diminishing Russia’s ability to export them to the rest of the world.
