Godongwana decries EU’s decision to ban insurance on logistics companies transporting oil

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana says a decision by European countries to ban insurance on logistics companies transporting Russian oil, will negatively affect the global economy.  

Russia invaded Ukraine more than five months ago, claiming it wanted to denasify and demilitarise the country.  

Ukraine had expressed an interest in joining the EU and NATO.  

The West has imposed a range of sanctions targeting the Russian economy and military. This includes an EU ban on companies ensuring ships transporting Russian oil.  

Godongwana spoke to the SABC at the ANC policy conference at Nasrec, south of Johannesburg.

“The impact of that is massive for the global economy and I think what is being discussed is how do we, as other nations, relate and discuss with both European Union and the UK.” 

Meanwhile, OPEC’s new secretary general said that Russia’s membership in OPEC+ is vital for the success of the agreement, Kuwait’s Alrai newspaper reported on Sunday, quoting an exclusive interview with Haitham al-Ghais.

He said OPEC is not in competition with Russia, calling it “a big, main and highly influential player in the world energy map”, Alrai reported.

OPEC+ is an alliance of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies led by Russia.

Al-Ghais, Kuwait’s former OPEC governor, will head his first OPEC+ meeting on Aug. 3, in which the group will consider keeping oil output unchanged for September, despite calls from the United States for more supply.

Although a modest output increase is also likely to be discussed, eight sources told Reuters last week. – additional reporting by Reuters