OREANDA-NEWS   The European Union (EU) will provide sanctions relief to a number of entrepreneurs from Russia related to the fertilizer sector, the EUobserver portal reports, citing diplomatic sources.

The list includes Andrey Melnichenko and his wife, Andrey Guryev, Vyacheslav Moshe Kantor, Dmitry Mazepin and Vadim Moshkovich.

Individual EU countries will be able to unfreeze their funds if they are needed to finance and supply food and fertilizers, "especially to Africa." To do this, they will need a preliminary consultation with the European Commission.

On December 15, the European Union agreed on the ninth package of sanctions against Russia, European diplomats told Reuters. The information that the permanent representatives of the EU countries have agreed on new restrictions was confirmed by the Czech presidency in the association.

According to media reports, the EU in the new package has decided to expand the list of promotional goods prohibited for export to Russia, covering equipment that can be used by the country in the aviation and space industry.