Vita gazette – After the USA, England and Japan, the European Union also decided to impose an embargo on Russian gold. The EU has agreed to ban the import of Russian gold, including jewellery, and freeze the assets of Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank.

Since February 24, the EU has imposed sanctions on a wide range of products from Russia, including coal, seaborne oil, vodka, cement, wood, seafood, caviar and hunting equipment. Gas, a major source of income for Moscow, is exempt from EU sanctions.

Russia is considered the fourth largest gold exporter in the world. Precious metal represents the country’s largest export after energy. According to the Czech Republic, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Council, the new sanctions will also freeze the assets of Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank, in the bloc. It will also ban all transactions except financial transactions for food and fertilizer trade between the bank and EU countries. In early June, Sberbank was expelled from SWIFT, the Belgium-based system that provides fast electronic payments worldwide. The new package also adds new names to the blacklist.