EU finalizes Russia sanctions package targeting banks, crypto operators and vessels

The European Union adopted its 21st sanctions package against Russia on July 23, broadening pressure on Moscow’s financial system, oil revenues, military-linked supply chains and sanctions-evasion networks. The measures include 218 new listings — 170 entities and 48 individuals — in what the Council described as its largest group of new listings in four years, and they cover 94 banks and financial institutions, 14 crypto service platforms, 41 additional shadow-fleet vessels, refineries and military suppliers. The package expands the EU’s crypto restrictions by banning EU operators from transacting with 14 crypto service providers based in Georgia, Panama, the United Arab Emirates, the Marshall Islands, Kyrgyzstan and Belarus that the bloc says were used to help Russia bypass existing financial curbs. It also adds four designations linked to the A7 cross-border payments network, including entities tied to its activity in Africa, and creates a new mechanism that would allow the EU to block crypto-asset services connected to an entire third country when locally based providers are deemed to be helping Russia evade sanctions. Financial measures include asset freezes and a ban on making funds available to the 94 listed banks and major financial institutions, while a separate transaction ban was extended to 33 additional Russian credit and financial organizations. Four non-Russian banks were also hit with transaction bans, including one Kyrgyz bank linked to Russia’s System for Transfer of Financial Messages, or SPFS, and three other foreign banks accused of helping entities evade sanctions. Beyond finance, the EU added 41 vessels to its shadow-fleet list, bringing the total to 673, and extended restrictions to ships providing bunkering and other support services to vessels accused of bypassing the oil price cap. The package also lists entities and individuals tied to shadow-fleet operations, designates refineries in Russia and Belarus, imposes a transaction ban on the Kulevi refinery in Georgia after a six-month transition period, and pauses the automatic adjustment of the Russian oil price cap until July 15, 2027 amid disruption linked to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Military-related measures add 56 people and companies associated with Russia’s defense industry, including 37 tied to long-range drone production and supply chains, while 51 entities face tighter export controls on dual-use goods and technology.