The European Union (E.U.) is proposing to add Belarusian potash producer Belaruskali OAO and its marketing/export arm Belarusian Potash Co. (BPC) to the list of sanctioned companies in its proposed sixth package of sanctions against Russia, according to a Reuters report on May 4, citing people familiar with the matter.
The proposed new sanctions will also target Belarusian state-run oil refinery OJSC Naftan, according to Reuters, as well as a phase-out of E.U. imports of Russian crude oil and petroleum products. The European Commission sees Belarus as playing a supporting role in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Imports of Belarusian potash into the E.U. have been prohibited since February this year, when the Commission widened its ban to include all grades of Belarusian potash imports (GM March 4, p. 30).
The Commission first imposed a ban on certain grades of Belarusian potash from June 25, 2021, following the forced landing of a Ryanair flight and the arrest of journalist Raman Pratasevich and his girlfriend in Minsk on May 23 (GM May 28, 2021). The initial sanctions excluded a key grade of Belarusian potash: potassium chloride with a potassium content evaluated as K2O by weight, exceeding 40 percent but not exceeding 60 percent on the dry anhydrous product.
In its fifth package of sanctions against Russia adopted on April 8, the Commission imposed a cap on Russian imports of potassium chloride as a way to avoid the ban on potash imports from Belarus being circumvented via Russia (GM April 8, p. 1). The E.U. set a quota of 837,570 mt on Russian imports of potassium chloride (CN 3104 20) into the Bloc from July 10 to July 9 the following year, and effectively at historic import levels.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, addressing the European Parliament in Strasbourg on May 4, has also called on the E.U.’s 27 member countries to phase out imports of Russian crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of this year. She said the phasing out of Russian oil will be done in an “orderly fashion” and in a way that allows the E.U. and its partners to secure “alternative supply routes and minimizes the impact on global markets.” The E.U. gets about 25 percent of its oil from Russia.
The proposed sanctions package requires the unanimous approval by all 27 Member States to come into effect. The latest sanctions became possible, according to media reports, after Berlin dropped its opposition, and von der Leyen’s proposal asked that Hungary and Slovakia, both hugely dependent on Russian oil, be given more time to meet the ban.
She also proposed that Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, and two other major Russian banks be disconnected from the SWIFT international banking payment system, and called for a ban on three state-owned broadcasters.