UPDATE: EU may limit loans to US firms if new anti-Russian sanctions

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BRUSSELS/MOSCOW, Jul 25 (PRIME) -- The E.U. may limit U.S. companies’ access to European credit as one of retaliatory measures to possible new U.S. sanctions against Russia targeting E.U. energy interests, a diplomatic source told PRIME on Tuesday.

“As far as I know, one of the options implies the E.U. introducing retaliatory measures against U.S. companies by limiting their access to loans from European banks,” the source said.

The U.S. Congress will vote on a bill that will introduce new sanctions against Russia later on Tuesday. The bill prohibits companies to invest more than U.S. $1 million in a single payment or more than $5 million during the course of a year in construction of Russian export pipelines, as well as provision of goods, services, technologies and information support for the construction. The U.S. will continue standing against the construction of the Nord Stream-2 pipeline.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told PRIME that Moscow is monitoring discussions of the U.S. Congress’ new bill closely, as it poses a threat to relations between the two countries.

“We are following what is happening around the well-known U.S. bill, which envisages introduction of new sanctions against Russia and a number of other countries, as well as codifying the existing ones closely. All this is very worrisome. There are no signs that the Russophobic hysteria, which the entire U.S. Congress is covered by, recedes, we do not see it,” Ryabkov said.

“Unfortunately, the prospects for adopting this bill are realistic. We are alarmed that a very dangerous mine is being laid under the foundation of our countries’ relations.”

The Financial Times reported earlier that Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, had urged to consider a possible E.U. retaliation against the scaling up of the U.S. sanctions against Russia on Wednesday.

According to a note cited by the newspaper, Europe “should stand ready to act within days” if the U.S. measures were “adopted without E.U. concerns being taken into account.”

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