European Union countries failed on Friday to approve a 15th package of sanctions on Russia, which included an extension for the Czech Republic to import Russian oil-based products coming mainly through Slovakia, diplomats said.
Two member states blocked the passage over a disagreement about extending the time given to European companies disinvesting from Russia, diplomats said. EU members will come back to the package later, Reuters reported
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The package also includes sanctions on tankers carrying Russian oil.
Within the package was a debate on extending an EU exemption allowing the Czechs to continue importing diesel and other products derived from Russian oil and made in a Slovak refinery.
While the Czechs have said they were not looking for an extension allowing the import of Russian oil-based fuels, Slovakia has sought to keep the arrangement, which expired on Thursday, in place.
Slovak refiner Slovnaft, owned by Hungary’s MOL MOLB.BU, is a significant exporter of diesel made from Russian oil to the Czech Republic. Czech officials have said an extension for six months could be accepted.
The 27-nation EU banned most oil imports from Russia after the country’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary gained exemptions to sanctions because of a lack of other supply
However, the Czech Republic has been upgrading a pipeline from Italy to Germany to transport more oil that way and wean itself completely off Russian crude by the second half of 2025.
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