The European Union has extended its sanctions list against Russia by nearly 1,600 names, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia reports. EU foreign ministers approved the addition at their meeting in Luxembourg on 12 October, which Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna attended.
The new entries cover 743 individuals and 826 entities whose activities, according to the ministry, help Russia continue its war against Ukraine. "This is the largest addition of individuals and entities to the EU sanctions list to date,"
Tsahkna said, adding that it will increase pressure on Russia.
Support for Ukraine was the other main topic of the meeting. Tsahkna repeated Estonia's position that frozen Russian assets held in Europe should be used for Ukraine's financial needs. On Russian sabotage in European countries, he said attacks should be attributed to those responsible and that the travel of Russian citizens to Europe should be restricted, pointing to more than half a million Schengen visas issued to Russian citizens every year.
The ministers also discussed EU enlargement, the Middle East and Georgia, and held an informal discussion on hybrid threats and foreign information manipulation before the meeting.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, . The text above is our own summary; the words in quotation marks are the source's.
What this means for an Estonian entrepreneur
For an Estonian company that checks customers or partners against sanctions lists, the list it screens against has just grown by its largest step so far. A check that relies on an older copy of the list will miss the new names, so screening should run against the current version, and earlier checks of existing customers may need repeating. The additions concern individuals and entities linked to Russia's military-industrial complex.
Our AML/CFT internal rules include the sanctions screening procedure that tells staff when and against which lists customers are checked. AML/CFT internal rules, risk assessment and procedures