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Croatia insists on its exemption from EU embargo on Russian oil supplies — newspaper

In particular, the company noted that the plant in Rijeka as a whole is not very dependent on the supply of Russian crude oil, but the issue related to the further supply of vacuum gas oil is fundamental

ZAGREB, May 6. /TASS/. Croatia stands for its exemption from the embargo on supplies of Russian oil products, the Vecerny List newspaper reported on Friday.

According to the publication, Croatia's main motive is the need to continue to provide vacuum gas oil (a type of heavy diesel fuel) for the operation of the refinery in the city of Rijeka, owned by the Croatian company INA.

In particular, the company noted that the plant in Rijeka as a whole is not very dependent on the supply of Russian crude oil, but the issue related to the further supply of vacuum gas oil is fundamental.

On May 4, EC President Ursula von der Leyen said that the EC, as part of the sixth package of sanctions against Russia, invited the EU countries to begin to phase out Russian oil. The exact parameters of the oil embargo, if adopted, will become known after the approval of the EC proposals by the EU countries. According to diplomatic sources and European media, the European Commission proposed EU countries to abandon the import of Russian crude oil in six months, and the import of petroleum products in 2023. It is also expected that there will be different conditions for refusing tanker and pipeline oil. The EC agreed to make an exception for Hungary and Slovakia and allow them to buy Russian oil under existing contracts until the end of 2023, so that these countries do not veto the entire sanctions bloc.

On February 24, Putin said in a televised address on February 24 that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories. After that the US, the EU, the UK and a number of other states announced that they would impose sanctions against Russian legal entities and individuals.