Wednesday, 1st June, 2022

Page 2
EU plans to ban 90% of all Russian oil
imports by 2023 - Ursula von der Leyen
EU leaders say they will
block most Russian oil
imports by the end of
2022 to punish Moscow
for invading Ukraine.
The EU-wide ban will affect
oil that arrives by sea - around
two-thirds of imports - but not
pipeline oil, following opposition
from Hungary.
Poland and Germany have
also pledged to end pipeline imports,
meaning a total of 90% of
Russian oil will be blocked.
European Council chief
Charles Michel said the deal cut
off a huge source of financing for
the Russian war machine.
It is part of a sixth package of
sanctions approved at a summit
in Brussels, which all 27 member
states have had to agree on.
Russia currently supplies 27%
of the EU's imported oil and 40%
of its gas. The EU pays Russia
around €400bn ($430bn, £341bn) a
year in return.
So far, no sanctions on
Russian gas exports to the EU
have been put in place, although
plans to open a new gas pipeline
from Russia to Germany have
been frozen.
The UK - which gets 8% of
its oil needs from Russia - has
pledged to phase out Russian oil
by the end of the year.
Oil prices climbed on news
of the EU embargo, with Brent
crude rising above $123 a barrel,
its highest level since March.
EU members spent hours
struggling to resolve their differences
over the ban on Russian
oil imports. Hungary, which imports
65% of its oil from Russia
through pipelines, was its main
opponent. Hungary's Prime
Minister, Viktor Orban, has good
relations with Russian President
Vladimir Putin.
The compromise followed
DAILY ANALYST Wednesday, 1st June, 2022
weeks of wrangling until it was
agreed there would be "a temporary
exemption for oil that comes
through pipelines to the EU", Mr
Michel told reporters.
Because of this, the immediate
sanctions will affect only
Russian oil being transported
into the EU over sea - two-thirds
of the total imported from Russia.
But in practice, European
Commission President Ursula
von der Leyen said the scope of
the ban would be wider, because
Germany and Poland have volunteered
to wind down their own
pipeline imports by the end of
this year.
"Left over is around 10-11%
that is covered by the southern
Druzhba," Ms Von der Leyen said,
referring to the Russian pipeline
supplying oil to Hungary, Slovakia
and the Czech Republic. The
European Council would revisit
this exemption "as soon as possible",
she added.
A senior EU official confirmed
that the three landlocked countries
were given an additional
guarantee that they could obtain
supplies of seaborne Russian oil
in the event of an interruption to
pipeline supply.
The Russian ambassador to
Global News
Russian oil: EU agrees
compromise deal on
banning imports
the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, said
Brussels had "already approached
the limits of what is possible in
terms of sanctions".
Speaking to Russian state TV,
he predicted "serious problems"
if the EU were to try to agree on a
gas embargo.
The ban on Russian oil
imports was initially proposed
by the European Commission -
which develops laws for member
states - a month ago.
But resistance, notably from
Hungary, held up the EU's troubled
latest round of sanctions.
Mr Orban declared the agreement
a victory for his country,
telling Hungarians they could
sleep soundly - protected from
expensive fuel costs that the
embargo would bring to the rest
of Europe.
"We succeeded in defeating
the proposal of the European
Council which would have forbidden
Hungary from using Russian
oil," he said in a Facebook video.
Other landlocked countries,
such as Slovakia and the Czech
Republic, also asked for more
time due to their dependence on
Russian oil. Bulgaria, already cut
off from Russian gas by Gazprom,
had likewise sought opt-outs.
The cost of living crisis being
felt across Europe has not helped
either. Sky-rocketing energy prices
- among other things - have
curtailed some EU countries' appetite
for sanctions which could
also hurt their own economies.
Ukraine's President Volodymyr
Zelensky, who dialled into
the summit, urged EU countries
to stop their internal "quarrels,"
stating that they only helped
Moscow.
"All quarrels in Europe must
end, internal disputes that only
encourage Russia to put more
and more pressure on you," Mr
Zelensky said via video-link.
Latvia's Prime Minister
Krisjanis Karins said member
countries should not get "bogged
down" in their own personal
interests.
"It's going to cost us more.
But it's only money. The Ukrainians
are paying with their lives,"
he said.
Russia cut off gas supplies to
Dutch firm GasTerra on Tuesday
for refusing to pay for supplies in
roubles. The EU has said paying
in Russian currency breaches
sanctions and Gazprom has
already cut supplies to Poland,
Finland and Bulgaria.
Shanghai lockdown: China eases
Covid restrictions after two months
The Chinese city of
Shanghai, the country's
economic centre and
a global trade hub, has
eased Covid curbs after
a two-month lockdown.
At midnight local time (16:00
GMT Tuesday), restrictions were
relaxed to allow most people to
move freely around the city of
some 25 million people.
But at least 650,000 residents
will remain confined to their
homes.
China's overall policy of "zero
Covid" remains in place and people
catching Covid face quarantine
or hospital.
Their close contacts also face
the prospect of removal to quarantine
and the area immediately
around where they live being
locked down again.
"This is a day that we dreamed
of for a very long time," Shanghai
government spokeswoman Yin
Xin told reporters.
"Everyone has sacrificed a lot.
This day has been hard-won and
we need to cherish and protect it,
and welcome back the Shanghai
we are familiar with and missed."
E-commerce professional
Chen Ying was planning to work
from home after the lockdown
was eased, but she told AFP news
agency she might treat her twoyear-old
son to a long-awaited
walk outside.
"We should have been free to
begin with, so don't expect me to
be deeply grateful now they've
given it back to us," she added.
Media caption,
Officials moved people from
their homes in Pudong on the
outskirts of Shanghai
Lockdown has seen many
residents lose income, struggle
to find enough food and cope
mentally with prolonged isolation
Ṁanufacturers including
Western car makers Volkswagen
and Tesla have been particularly
impacted by the restrictions as
staff were kept away from factories
or had to work in "closed
loop" conditions, where they
lived at the plants.
On Wednesday a basic
service will resume on public
transport and shops will open
with larger ones operating at 75%
capacity, but cinemas, museums
and gyms will remain closed.
Most children will not return
to face-to-face schooling.
There are new rules too:
• All residents will be
required to show a green health
code on their smartphone to
leave their home compounds or
buildings and access most places
• All residents wishing to
move around the city on public
transport and access banks, malls
etc will be required to have a
negative PCR test certificate valid
in the last 72 hours
• And restrictions on leaving
Shanghai remain, with any
resident travelling to another city
facing quarantine of 7-14 days on
arrival.
The city has a 50-point plan
aimed at revitalising its economy,
which before the lockdown
was worth more than $600bn
(£475bn).
New measures include
reducing some taxes for car
buyers, speeding up the issuance
of local government bonds and
fast-tracking approvals of building
projects.
The rigidity of the lockdown
caused much frustration in the
city
Ṁarketing professional Anita
Xu, 32, felt "a little caught unawares".
"Even if you can go out, I
don't know what you can do," she
told AFP.
But Todd Pearson, managing
director of Camel Hospitality
Group, which operates restaurants,
bars and gyms in and
around Shanghai, sounded a
cautious note when he spoke to
Reuters news agency.
"I'm hopeful that they will
rush things along to restart
the economy," he said. "I just
hope it's not at the cost of more
outbreaks. I'm not sure many
businesses or the people could
handle much more."
China has registered at least
14,604 deaths and 2,426,568 cases
of Covid during the pandemic,
with nearly 90% of its population
fully vaccinated.
Worldwide, Covid has killed
at least 6,289,241 people, according
to John Hopkins University
research.
Most people will be allowed to move freely around China's biggest city