Europe eased back on efforts to curb trade in Russian oil, as it delayed a plan to shut Russia out of the maritime insurance market.
Namely, during June the EU announced a worldwide ban on the provision of maritime insurance to vessels carrying Russian oil two months ago, expecting collaboration with the UK. However, the UK has not yet introduced similar restrictions.
According to the Financial Times, EU amended some curbs on dealing with state-owned Russian companies during July, due to concerns over global energy security. In the same wavelength, US officials have also expressed concern that an immediate global ban on maritime insurance would increase prices.
Currently, UK’s latest sanctions against Russia only ban the provision of insurance to vessels carrying Russian oil to the UK, and only after December 31. The legislation does not ban the provision of services to shipments from Russia to other countries.
As for the EU insurance ban, it was introduced on June 4 and still remains in place, preventing companies in the bloc from writing new insurance for any vessel carrying Russian oil anywhere.
Existing contracts remain valid until December 5, but the EU has changed part of its own sanctions to allow European companies to deal with some Russian state-owned entities.
