Netherlands pulls back some sanctions imposed on Russia, including those on aluminium

As a result of a geopolitical crisis between Ukraine and Russia, Russia has been subjected to numerous EU restrictions since February 2022. Our source from Europe unveiled that during the nine months of the crisis, the government in the Hague issued 91 decisions exempting individual entities from sanctions.

There is often a benefit to more than one company from every decision made. Dutch ministries carry out the lifting of sanctions. 34 Russian ships carrying aluminium, among other things, were allowed to dock at Dutch ports by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Resources. A total of 25 permits were issued by the Ministry of Economy and Climate to Dutch firms working with former Gazprom companies owned by the German company SEFE Energy.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Foreign Trade issued 18 permits to 13 organizations for "humanitarian reasons", and the Ministry of Finance issued 13 permits exempting several frozen assets and sanctioned goods.

Eventually, it was found that the Netherlands' Foreign Affairs Ministry issued one authorization for payments from Russia on the account of “diplomatic purposes.”