The European Union is preparing a new sanctions package that will target a record number of companies — more than 1,600, Bloomberg reported on September 17, citing sources familiar with the matter.
The combined annual turnover of these companies exceeds $20 billion, and they employ a total of 265,000 people, the agency wrote. If the package is approved, the number of sanctioned legal entities in the EU will increase by 50% at once.
Unlike previous packages, the new one is aimed not at specific goods or industries but at specific companies. According to Bloomberg, European officials consider them part of Russia's military-industrial complex or its suppliers.
The economic impact of these measures is likely to be less significant than that of sanctions against Russia's oil industry and banking system, Bloomberg noted. The European External Action Service is drafting the new package.
Bloomberg emphasized that coordinating sanctions is becoming increasingly difficult for the EU. When adopting the 21st package, Greece secured an exemption from the ban on transshipment of Russian LNG for re-export; France and Italy obtained a softening of restrictions on entry for former Russian military personnel; and several countries blocked a ban on imports of certain types of Russian fish.
According to Bloomberg's sources, the draft of the new package will be circulated to EU member states in the coming weeks, and approval is planned at a meeting of foreign ministers in October. Separately, the EU is preparing sanctions related to the forced deportation of Ukrainian children, which may also be adopted in the fall.
The agency noted that the preparation of the new package comes amid diplomatic activity by European countries: Germany, France, and Britain are trying to engage Vladimir Putin in peace negotiations in coordination with Volodymyr Zelensky. The team of European Council President Antonio Costa has also established contact with the Kremlin to prepare possible negotiations, Bloomberg wrote. At the same time, Putin, according to the agency, rejects ceasefire proposals, arguing that a ceasefire would allow Ukraine to rearm, and demands that Russia be given control of the Donetsk region. Kyiv rejects these demands.