EU Threatens New Sanctions; Russia Responds with Threats on Natural Gas and Airspace Flight Restrictions

The tit-for-tat sanction madness in Europe took a huge leap forward today with new sanctions in the work on Russian energy companies. Russia responded by threatening to restrict commercial flights over its airspace, by threatening to halt reverse flows of natural gas to Ukraine, and with a threat to reduce gas delivery to Europe. EU Plans New SanctionsThe Wall Street Journal reports New EU Sanctions to Stop Fundraising by 3 Russian Oil Giants
New European Union sanctions on Russia will expand the number of Russian companies unable to raise money in the bloc’s capital markets to include three state-owned oil companies, according to documents seen by The Wall Street Journal. The documents show the EU seeking to hit Russian oil companies, but leaving unscathed those involved in gas production and export, which are critical to many European countries’ energy supplies. Under a modest expansion of sanctions introduced in late July, the three oil companies – Gazpromneft, the oil-production and refining subsidiary of OAO Gazprom, oil transportation company Transneft, and oil giant Rosneft – will be forbidden from raising funds of longer than 30 days’ maturity.

This post was published at Global Economic Analysis on September 08, 2014.