BRUSSELS
EU on Friday announced new sanctions against Russia, including restrictions on three large Russian energy companies - Rosneft, Transneft and Gazprom Neft from raising long-term capital from European financial markets.
In order to put pressure on the Russian government over its aggression during the Ukraine crisis, the EU will apply further restrictions to Russian companies, whose main activities relate to the sale or transportation of crude oil or petroleum products, according to the EU official journal released on Friday.
Russia's three biggest oil companies are banned from "purchasing, selling and providing investment services for or assistance in the issuance of, or otherwise dealing with transferable securities and money-market instruments with a maturity exceeding the following 30 days," it stated in the journal on Friday.
The EU has also halted deep sea and shale extraction projects which Russia needs to extract oil and gas in the Arctic. Additionally, the journal said that Moscow is also prohibited from providing drilling, well testing, logging and completion services, and it has banned the supply of specialized floating vessels necessary for deep water oil exploration and production and shale oil projects in Russia.
The EU accuses Russia of helping pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions by posting regular soldiers across the border, along with providing advanced weaponry.
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