International sanctions

Hungarian state oil company MOL is nearing the conclusion of negotiations to establish a new arrangement for securing Russian crude oil after Ukraine banned its main partner, Lukoil, from using Ukrainian pipelines.

Traders are moving Russian diesel cargoes to a new ship-to-ship (STS) loadings site in the northern Aegean Sea, as Western sanctions hit vessels carrying fuel loaded in Russian ports, LSEG and market sources data show.

Traders are moving Russian diesel cargoes to a new ship-to-ship (STS) loadings site in the northern Aegean Sea, as Western sanctions hit vessels carrying fuel loaded in Russian ports, LSEG and market sources data show.

Gazprom reported a record loss of 480.6 billion rubles (about 5.6 billion US dollars) for the first half of the year. This follows last year's annual loss of 629 billion rubles (approximately 6.9 billion dollars), the first in over two decades. In 2022, Gazprom had recorded a profit of 1.23 trillion rubles.

The European Commission has made its first payment of 1.5 billion euros to Ukraine, derived from frozen Russian assets. This funding aims to bolster Ukraine's military capacity and contribute to the country's reconstruction.

Switzerland is expanding its sanctions against Russia to align with those adopted by the EU on June 24, as announced by the Swiss government. This measure is in response to Moscow's ongoing aggressive actions in Ukraine.

The European Union yesterday slapped new sanctions on Russia over its war on Ukraine, targeting Moscow's shadow fleet of tankers moving liquefied natural gas through Europe as well as several companies.

The European Union has announced its 14th package of sanctions against Russia in response to its ongoing aggression towards Ukraine. These new measures, introduced on Monday, include unprecedented restrictions on Russian natural gas, although they stop short of banning imports, similar to previous actions taken against crude oil and coal.

European Union countries agreed on a 14th package of sanctions against Russia over its war in Ukraine, diplomats said on Thursday, including a ban on re-exports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) in EU waters.

Belgium, which holds the rotating EU presidency until July 1, said on the X platform that the package "maximises the impact of existing sanctions by closing loopholes".

Reuters reported that sources familiar with the matter revealed the US government's intention to announce expanded sanctions on Wednesday regarding the sale of semiconductor chips and other commodities to Russia. The move aims to target sellers based in China as the US seeks to thwart Russia's attempts to bypass existing restrictions.