Romania to criminalize attempts to circumvent sanctions imposed on Russia, minister says

Romania’s foreign minister, Oana Ţoiu, announced that Romania will adopt a legislative act to criminalize companies and individuals who attempt to circumvent the sanctions imposed on Russia at the European level.

The move comes after a joint decision by EU member states on July 18 to extend the sanctions package to the intermediaries through which certain companies from the Russian Federation tried to bypass the previous sanctions system.

“We have adopted a new package of sanctions against Russia, the 18th sanctions package, which was adopted at the level of the European Union, and the part regarding the capping of the price per barrel is very important,” said Oana Ţoiu on Wednesday, July 24, on Euronews Romania.

The new package also lists 14 individuals and 41 entities responsible for actions undermining or threatening the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine, bringing the total number of individual listings to over 2,500. Moreover, a total of 444 Russian vessels are now banned from port access, to counter what the Commission dubbed “Vladimir Putin’s shadow fleet circumventing the oil price cap mechanism.”

Romania will enforce the sanctions and prohibitions, according to the foreign minister. “On the list of prohibitions, both in the previous packages and in this new sanctions package, there are both individuals who are listed on the prohibition list and companies. Over time, there have been attempts by these entities to circumvent the sanctions system through intermediaries, especially at the fleet level. This time, we decided to ensure that this will no longer be able to happen,” Oana Ţoiu said.

Those who attempt to circumvent the sanctions can face criminal penalties, according to the draft law.

(Photo source: Oana Toiu on Facebook)