LONDON (Reuters) – The European Union has banned top credit rating firms from rating Russia’s sovereign debt and the country’s companies as part of its latest sanctions package, the European Commission said on Tuesday.
“These sanctions will further contribute to ramping up economic pressure on the Kremlin and cripple its ability to finance its invasion of Ukraine,” the Commission said in a statement.
“They have been coordinated with international partners, notably the United States,” it added.
Other measures in the package included an import ban on Russian steel products currently under EU safeguard measures, which it estimated would amount to approximately 3.3 billion euros ($330.15 million) in lost export revenue for Russia.
There was also an export ban on luxury goods such as luxury cars and jewellery, and an increase in the number of sanctioned wealthy individuals with links to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
($1 = 0.9087 euros)
(Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Saikat Chatterjee)
