Russia Faces New Sanctions to Foil Its Efforts to Get Around Old Ones

• Russia will soon face a new set of sanctions to foil any efforts it makes to get around old ones.
• The EU is planning to roll out its 11th sanctions package, an official told CNBC Thursday. 
• “Don’t underestimate the efforts that Russia will make with its pals globally to get around our sanctions,” she said. 

Russia will soon face a new wave of sanctions from the European Union aimed to quash any attempts to get around the previous economic penalties that were imposed after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine just over a year ago. 

The EU is planning to roll out its 11th package of sanctions against Russia, Mairead McGuinness, the EU commissioner for financial stability, financial services and capital markets union, confirmed to CNBC on Thursday. 

“Europe has rolled out 10 packages or sanctions, we will have another package,” McGuinness said. “Don’t underestimate the efforts that Russia will make with its pals globally to get around our sanctions — they’re affecting the Russian economy, they’re affecting the Russian war machine.” 

She didn’t specify what the new sanctions would target. Earlier rounds were aimed at Russia’s oil and gas exports, key technologies, access to its currency reserves, as well as certain individuals and companies.

Russia’s economy is weakening and the sanctions have been working, the EU official said. But according to her, the focus now should be looking at full implementation to make it harder for Russia to work around them.

“What Russia is being deprived of is both the finance and also the technologies to reinvent their war machine and they are having problems on the battlefield. We have to make sure that they don’t find ways around our sanctions,” she said. 

“I make the point repeatedly that the deeper our sanctions, the more impactful they are, the more Russia will look for those ways — whether it’s other countries or different bank accounts to circumvent,” she added. 

Russia has been facing a series of economic headwinds and is doing much worse than its government claims, economists and other experts have said in recent days.

The country’s private sector is shrinking and its main revenue sources — oil and gas exports — have plunged since Western countries imposed a price cap late last year.