EU excludes Russian company from sanctions list at Estonia's request

At Estonia's request, a Russian rare-earth metals supplier to Estonian company Silmet has been dropped from the EU's new list of sanctions targeting Russia. The list now covers 743 individuals and 826 legal entities.

Source: European Pravda, citing Rikard Jozwiak, Europe Editor Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, on X (Twitter)

Details: The European External Action Service (EEAS) initially proposed adding 744 individuals and 827 legal entities to the sanctions list. The version agreed by EU member states' ambassadors on 7 October, however, included one fewer individual and one fewer legal entity.

Jozwiak said that these changes were made at Estonia's request.

Quote: "It's a Russian company providing rare earths to the Estonian firm Silmet that processes the material for wind turbines and other products in Europe. The company is looking for alternative sources."

Background:

• On 7 October, EU member states' ambassadors agreed on two new EU-wide packages of sanctions regarding Ukraine's territorial integrity, which EU foreign ministers are set to formally approve at a meeting on 12 October. This would be the largest amount of sanctions approved all at once, targeting 743 individuals and 826 legal entities linked to Russia's military-industrial complex.
• On 22 September, the Council of the EU adopted a final decision to extend sanctions against individuals and legal entities responsible for undermining or threatening Ukraine's territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence for a further 36 months, but removed Russian oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Mikhail Fridman from the list.

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