“Nothing happens, it’s terrible!”: How will Europe get out of the impasse with the oil embargo?

The EU has proposed banning the sea transport of oil from Russia and postponing restrictions on imports through the Druzhba pipeline. as he wrote BloombergBrussels plans to take these steps to conclude an agreement on a package of halted sanctions “against the Russian Federation for its war in Ukraine”, while taking into account Hungary’s interests at the same time.

According to the agency, the European Commission sent a revised proposal to the governments of EU member states the day before. It is assumed that offshore oil imports will be phased out over six months – this will give Hungary more time to find a technical solution that meets its energy needs.

Other landlocked countries, including Slovakia and the Czech Republic, have yet to find a solution. According to the project, Bulgaria will be given a transitional period until June or December 2024.

The EC also proposed to limit the re-export of Russian pipeline oil to other EU member states or third countries.

EU ambassadors are expected to discuss the revised sanctions package on Sunday (May 29th). Some member states are pushing for an agreement before EU leaders meet in Brussels on Monday. Several countries had previously opposed the separation of offshore and pipeline oil resources, fearing that such a measure would be unfair and disproportionate.

oil embargo

The EU had previously considered giving up Russia’s oil imports altogether by the beginning of next year. Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic counted on a delay until 2024.

Last year, Russia supplied about 720,000 barrels per day of crude oil to European refineries via pipeline, mostly to Germany and Poland. Officials of these countries have already stated that they will reject materials from the Russian Federation, regardless of any action by the EU.

Maritime transport is 1.57 million barrels per day from Baltic, Black Sea and Arctic ports.

replace russian gas

After oil, the EU will switch to gas Bloomberg. The European Union plans to replace Russian gas by two-thirds by the end of this year and completely stop imports by 2027.

As the oil embargo stalemate dragged on for days and then weeks, an ambassador relayed Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot to his colleagues: “Nothing happens, nobody comes, nobody goes, it’s terrible!”

“EU member states are not delivering on their promises to hit President Vladimir Putin where it hurts most: the lucrative energy industry. Hungary and some other countries are bowing to Putin’s demand for gas payments in rubles. Companies insist on buying Russian gas on ruble accounts amid vague EC warnings.

One of the attendees at the last EU ministerial meeting expressed regret that some operators opened accounts in rubles contrary to what they had publicly reported.

“If we get stuck in oil and the war continues without winners and losers, we may see a scenario where EU unity starts to deteriorate,” said Nathalie Tocci, former foreign policy adviser to EU president Josep Borrell. According to him, this also affects the public. “The longer the war goes on, the more reluctant European societies are to bear the pain of sanctions, and this slows their rate of entry.”