Izuchukwu Okosi
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Russian oligarchs have been hit by more sanctions and this time it is coming from the European Union who on Tuesday imposed bans on the Russian energy sector investments, luxury goods exports to Moscow and imports of steel products from Russia.
The bans also affected the businesses of Russian billionaires believed to ‘support’ Russian President Vladimir Putin including Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich and the head of Russian State TV Channel One Konstantin Ernst who were added to a blacklist that already includes dozens of wealthy Russians.
There has been three rounds of punitive measures handed to Moscow like the freezing of assets of the Russian central bank, the exclusion from the SWIFT banking system of some Russian and Belarusian banks, and the freeze of assets of oligarchs and top politicians, including Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and foreign minister Sergey Lavrov.
The European Commission said the sanctions included “a far-reaching ban on new investment across the Russian energy sector
Investment in energy projects within Russia run by other Russian companies, including gas giant Gazprom will also be banned.
The investment ban applies to the whole energy sector, excluding nuclear energy, because some EU countries still rely on technology provided by Moscow for Russian reactors on their soil, the official said.
However, Russia’s exports of several raw minerals, including fossil fuels and palladium, remain possible.
