The Russian government yesterday released a list of 31 foreign companies on which it has imposed retaliatory sanctions, in a resolution signed by Vladimir Putin. The companies are from Germany, France and other European countries as well as from the U.S. and Singapore. The list also includes former European subsidiaries of Gazprom, such as Gazprom Germania GmbH, Gazprom Schweiz AG, and Gazprom Marketing & Trading USA, Inc., among others. All of these companies are ordered to stop using Gazprom’s trademark.
Although President Putin said May 3 he would be issuing a list of companies or entities from “unfriendly” countries to be sanctioned, yesterday’s action is attributed by some media to Ukraine’s hostile action yesterday shutting down the Russian pipeline on its territory used to transport gas to Europe.
The resolution explaining the sanctions prohibits the 31 entities from conducting any transactions with Gazprom, or from entering Russian ports. Russian authorities, legal entities or individual citizens are prohibited from concluding any transactions with the sanctioned entities, or any organizations under their control; this includes financial transactions and foreign trade contracts. Included on the list is EuRoPol GAZ,SA, which is the owner of the Polish part of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline through which much of Gazprom’s gas supply to Europe flows.
