Yermak-McFaul International Expert Group presents Roadmap for energy sanctions
International Working Group on Sanctions against russia presents Energy Sanctions Roadmap – Recommendations on Sanctions against russia
Rubryka reports, citing the press service of the President's Office.
The working group is led by the head of the President's Office, Andrii Yermak, and the director of the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, former US National Security Adviser, Michael McFaul.
According to the President's Office, this is the second document developed by the Yermak-McFaul group.
"It details energy sanctions, helping governments and companies around the world formulate proposals for sanctions against russia. Introducing new sanctions should increase the cost of russia's invasion of Ukraine," the statement said.
The Office added that according to experts, russia's budget is based on revenues from the sale of energy, primarily to European countries. Since February 24, the EU has paid $800 million daily for russian oil and gas imports.
The expert group fully supports the full embargo on russian oil and provides recommendations for the gradual implementation of the ban to minimize market disruptions.
Priority transition mechanisms are:
- regulated import tax or tariff,
- storage of funds for energy on a special escrow account.
The document also calls for additional sanctions to prevent the circumvention of restrictions imposed on the energy sector. In particular, these are targeted sanctions against maritime export service providers bypassing the controlled sales regime.
In addition, the roadmap emphasizes the importance of disconnecting russia from financial flows from gas exports, as Europe pays russia more for gas than for oil during the war.
In the two months of the war, russia earned €62 billion from gas, oil, and coal sales, most of it from the EU
Members of the Yermak-McFaul International Expert Group call on governments, as well as public and private companies, to take the Roadmap as a basis for further public promotion of energy sanctions against russia.
To recap, European diplomats are currently holding tough talks on a new, sixth package of sanctions against russia. It, in particular, considers the phasing out of russian oil.
But according to media reports, the idea of an oil embargo is opposed by Hungary and Slovakia. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán even compared the embargo to an "atomic bomb" for the Hungarian economy.
Bloomberg reported that at a meeting of EU ambassadors on May 8, an agreement on a new package of sanctions was not reached. Hungary continues to block the EU's proposal to phase out russian oil imports. Negotiations are expected to resume in the coming days.
