Greece, Cyprus and Malta have rejected a Commission proposal to ban the transport of Russian oil by vessels flying the flag of a European Union member state to third countries as part of the sixth package of sanctions for invading Ukraine, a Politico news website reported on Monday./p>
The latest version of the daily newsletter of the website writes that the three countries rejected the proposal “due to concerns that their shipowners will lose to their competitors and their economies will be affected”.
It is recalled that the sixth package of sanctions includes the gradual embargo on the import of crude and refined oil from Russia, both by land and by tanker.
In addition to Hungary's well-known opposition to banning oil imports via pipelines (the country relies on its dependence on Russian pipelines as it has no access to the sea), Greece, Cyprus and Malta are also said to have called for a longer transition period. ban on the import of oil by sea, without objecting to the ban itself.
However, the three countries have reportedly disagreed with the ban on the transport of Russian oil by EU flag to third countries, arguing that their own economies will be hit while these transfers will be made by competing companies and flags of other countries.
On Friday, Oleg Ustenko, a financial adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, told Politico that “politicians on the EU side are talking about money and we are talking about lives.”
The same article also included a statement by President Anastasiadis following a meeting with the Greek Prime Minister on 6 May, in which Mr Anastasiadis stated that Cyprus supported “Sanctions against Russia should be” targeted and not selective and that serve some of the States and leave some of the States exposed “./p>
Source: KYPE
