- The 18th package includes 22 Russian banks, including Yandex Bank, Dom.RF, and Centrcredit.
- For the first time, Chinese financial institutions have been sanctioned for supporting Russia in cryptocurrency operations.
- The EU has tightened restrictions on Russia’s digital assets.
New EU sanctions expansion: banks, cryptocurrencies, military industry
The European Union has approved the 18th sanctions package against the Russian Federation, covering a wide range of financial, digital, and industrial entities. The list includes 69 legal entities, including two Chinese financial institutions and four companies associated with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).
This is reported by Finway
The new sanctions impose strict financial restrictions on Russian banks such as T-Bank, Centrcredit, Yandex Bank, Metkombank, and Dom.RF. European companies are now prohibited from cooperating with these institutions, providing specialized banking services, or conducting cryptocurrency transactions. The total number of Russian banks under EU sanctions has increased to 45.
Chinese banks and RDIF companies sanctioned for the first time
For the first time, Chinese banks—Heihe Rural Commercial Bank and Heilongjiang Suifenhe Rural Commercial Bank—have been included in the restrictions, suspected of assisting Russia in conducting cryptocurrency operations to circumvent international sanctions. The European Commission emphasized that transaction bans now also apply to third countries if they help Russia evade restrictions.
Four companies funded by RDIF have also been added to the sanctions list: BitRiver (cryptocurrency mining), Vizorlabs (video analytics), Labadvance (medical technologies), and Kama (developer of the electric car “Atom”). The EU has prohibited any operations with legal entities in which RDIF has a stake, including subsidiaries of the fund.
In the defense sector, 26 enterprises have been sanctioned, including the fiberglass manufacturer “Alabuga,” the engineering company NPF “Progress Technologies,” and Chinese-Turkish suppliers. Eight Belarusian defense enterprises have also been included in the “black list.”
The EU’s High Representative, Kaja Kallas, called the measures “one of the most powerful sanctions packages.” Among other things, it includes a reduction of the price cap on Russian oil from $60 to $47.6 per barrel starting September 3, 2025, with further adjustments every six months.
On July 16, the EU also imposed sanctions against pro-Russian influencer Simeon Boykov and the Moldovan cryptocurrency platform A7 for interference in elections, disinformation, and the use of cryptocurrencies to circumvent financial restrictions. Earlier, on July 6, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced a new sanctions package aimed at Russia’s financial schemes using crypto assets, prepared in collaboration with the National Bank of Ukraine to strike at Russia’s military economy.
Additionally, the United States imposed sanctions against Aeza Group from Russia for supporting cybercrime.