On 24 February last, on the occasion of the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and two months after the last tranche of restrictive measures, the EU Council adopted the 16th sanctions package against Russia, which, among other provisions, further expands the subjective listing (bringing to a total of approximately 2,400 the number of subjects affected by the asset freeze, travel and economic ban); it tightens the existing restrictions in the financial field and those targeted at the aviation sector and the transport of goods by road; it supplements the lists of entities that contribute to supporting Russian military and industrial capabilities as well as of the naval carriers that are part of the so-called Russian shadow fleet involved in activities circumventing sanctions; it expands the list of goods subject to export bans and provides for gradual limitations on the import of primary aluminium; it strengthens the sanctions regime against Crimea and Sevastopol and the Ukrainian areas not controlled by the government (Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia); it tightens the restrictive system against Belarus, aligning it with that implemented against Russia.

 The attached note summarises the main provisions adopted.