As we already informed, after the ecological catastrophe started in Black Sea after the wreck of two Russia-controlled tankers “Volgoneft” near Kerch Strait on December 15, 2024, our Association started to inform about the details of that incident to the competent international structures of global, european and regional level.
Our submissions were devoted to corresponding illegal activities of Russian maritime administration, “Rosneft” and “Russian Classification Society”, that directly caused that catastrophe and relevant maritime pollution of some thousand tons of fuel oil.
On March 6 we got the official response from the European Commission on that issue, exactly from the Unit A4 of Directorate-General for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union (DG FISMA).
The Unit is responsible for international affairs in DG FISMA, its mission is to develop, coordinate and implement the international strategy of DG FISMA, across all its instruments, to achieve the policy priorities of the Directorate and the Commission, particularly in relation to financial stability, sustainable and digital finance, including sanction issues and counteraction the money laundering.
The Unit A4 coordinates and supports multilateral work in the G20, Financial Stability Board and other international bodies, formulates Directorate’s policy on the relations with third countries, runs bilateral regulatory dialogues with third country jurisdictions, including UK, Japan, Canada and Switzerland.
In the response to ARC Unit A4 thanked us for providing the detailed assessment of the situation and stressed that the European Commission “remains committed to addressing the complex issues of maritime safety and environmental protection in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov”.
EU representatives stressed that our Association’s “observations add to our understanding of these matters, reinforcing the need for collective action to uphold international maritime norms”.
Unit A4 stressed that in the context of EU broader strategy, the Union continues to enhance measures targeting Russia’s shadow fleet and addressing the challenges of circumvention, reminding on current 16 sanctions packages on Russia.
EU officials added that Union’s latest sanctions packages “underscore our commitment to increasing pressure on those facilitating actions that undermine regional peace and stability. These comprehensive packages include restrictions on 153 vessels, including those linked to Russia’s shadow fleet, alongside other measures to combat the evasion of the Oil Price Cap”.
Unit A4 added that European Commission now “have imposed new sanctions, including asset freezes and travel bans, on individuals and entities contributing to activities that threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty, and independence of Ukraine”, with additional “focus on international engagement, advocating for stringent adherence to IMO conventions and effective enforcement of maritime safety regulations by flag and port states”, appreciating ARC’s effort in sharing our findings and insights with EU.
Our cooperation with the European Commission on those issues will be continued.
