The governments of the European Union reached this Friday an agreement to set caps on the price of Russian diesel and other oil derivatives sold from the bloc to third countries, in line with the reprisals against the Kremlin agreed by the G7 for the war in Ukraine.
Specifically, the ambassadors of the Twenty-seven agreed establish a maximum price of 100 dollars per barrel for diesel and 45 dollars in the case of other petroleum derivativesseveral diplomatic sources reported.
The top does not affect the purchases of the community blockwhich as of this Sunday prohibits all imports from Russia of oil derivatives, but it does prevents European operators from transporting and insuring these products if they have been sold at a price higher than the fixed ceiling.
“We must continue denying Russia the means to finance its war against Ukraine. The EU ban on the import of petroleum products takes effect on Sunday. With the G7 we are putting price caps on these products, cutting Russia’s revenue while ensuring stable global energy markets,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Twitter.
The global cap on the price of petroleum products was pending negotiation when the G7 powers managed to set a limit of 60 dollars per barrel of crude oil in December and the global forum set February 5 as the deadline to carry out this second part of the measure.
With today’s agreement, in addition to the ban on imports of petroleum derivatives, the EU The limit on exports to third countries will apply from this Mondayalthough the pact includes a period of 55 day transition for purchases that have been made before that date.
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On the other hand, the countries of the European Union also decided not to modify said cap on crude oil because, according to the same sources, “it is clear that it is having the desired effect”, that is, it is being effective in cutting Russia’s revenue through its oil exports.
Along these lines, the Twenty-seven agreed revisit this issue in March to determine if, at that moment, a modification of the cap established on Russian crude is justified.