The Norwegian Shipowners’ Association demands sanctions against Russian oil – the government says no – NRK Vestland

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EU: – No need for national sanctions

Main spokesperson for foreign and security policy in The EU, Peter Stano, writes in an email to NRK that it it is not necessary to adopt specific national sanctions when national authorities already implement and take over the EU sanctions.

– Of course, companies are free to decide whether they want to close their business in Russia for moral, security or business reasons, even if there are no sanctions in place.

Stano adds that the European Commission working on making one detailed plan to become less dependent on Russian oil and gas.

This separates the EU from the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, which have all introduced their own sanctions against oil and oil products from Russia.

– Does not come out of Russian contracts

In the EU, and countries that support the EU’s sanction packages, it is therefore up to the companies themselves to decide who they sign contracts with.

Several shipping companies have on their own decided not to take new cargo to or from Russia. They have also asked their customers to take moral responsibility by freezing shipping, the Norwegian Shipowners’ Association states in the letter.

However, some Norwegian shipping companies already had contracts with Russian oil companies for the war in Ukraine broke out. This makes the situation difficult, says Solberg.

– These contracts are legal and the shipping companies do not get out of them. We are therefore dependent on the Norwegian authorities taking action and sanctioning Russian oil.

Read all about Russian exports of oil and gas here:

The government: – Will not introduce its own sanctions

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has read the letter. They point to previous statements that the government does not want to introduce Norwegian sanctions beyond cooperation with the EU. It is also not desirable for private companies to introduce their own sanctions.

The reason is that broad sanctions, where several countries stand together, work better than some countries introducing their own sanctions.

Solberg says that he understands the argument, but that it does not hold:

– It will help little that Norway alone sanctions Russian oil, but Norway will be clear and speak for sanctioning in Brussels. This weekend we saw grotesque images from Kyivwhich only reinforces the need for the world to take an even tighter grip on the reactions to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, he says.

Stano writes that the discussion about more EU sanctions against the Kremlin is ongoing, and that new decisions can soon be made.

– Energy is one of the areas we are still looking at, unless Putin stops his murderous campaign against the Ukrainian people.