Companies from China and Serbia support Russia militarily in the war in Ukraine, EU proposes restrictions

The European Union has proposed new trade restrictions on some 22 companies, including three based in China and Serbia, accused of supporting Russia’s war effort in Ukraine.

If approved, it would be the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that the EU has imposed restrictions on companies in mainland China. The list also includes companies in Hong Kong, Serbia, India and Turkey, according to a draft first seen by Bloomberg.

The restrictions would ban European firms from trading with the listed companies as part of the European bloc’s efforts to limit Russia’s ability to access sanctioned goods through companies in third countries. The EU had previously proposed listing some Chinese firms, but these proposals were dropped due to opposition from some member states and after Beijing provided guarantees, reports The Geopost.

The issue is of crucial importance for the EU, which counts Beijing among its most important trading partners, and especially for Germany, for which China is the largest market for car manufacturers including Volkswagen AG.

EU sanctions require the approval of all member states and are subject to change before then.

A Commission spokesperson declined to comment on the proposal.

According to the document, the mainly technology and electronics companies are accused of “contributing to Russia’s military and technological improvement or to the development of the Russian defense and security sector”.

The proposals include three Chinese companies and one each from India, Sri Lanka, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Turkey and Hong Kong. Their inclusion in the proposed list “does not imply any attribution of responsibility for their actions in the jurisdiction in which they operate,” the document states. The EU has so far listed more than 620 companies, all of them from Russia.

As part of a package of sanctions to mark two years of Russian occupation of Ukraine, the EU has also proposed sanctions against more than 110 individuals and organizations. /TheGeopost