Search the EU Sanctions List

The short answer: the EU sanctions list is the Consolidated List of persons, groups and entities subject to EU financial sanctions. All of them are under an EU asset freeze, from Vladimir Putin to the Wagner Group.

Behind it stand more than 30 sanctions regimes. Country regimes cover states such as Russia, Belarus and Iran. Thematic regimes target conduct instead: terrorism, cyber-attacks, human rights violations and chemical weapons. The North Korea-based Chosun Expo, for example, is listed over WannaCry and other cyber-attacks.

Travel bans are not on it: the EU publishes them in a separate list, which is why we screen both. More background: EU sanctions: framework, enforcement and penalties.

Every entry in the Consolidated Financial Sanctions List follows the same structure, whatever the regime. Depending on what the Council has published, an entry contains:

• EU reference number: a unique identifier per entry, such as EU.7510.16 for Vladimir Putin.
• Names and aliases: spellings in other languages and scripts, plus title, function or role. Anatoliy Chepiga, for example, also appears as Ruslan Boshirov, and Putin's function reads “President of the Russian Federation”.
• Identity details: for individuals, date and place of birth, gender, citizenship and document numbers such as passports or national ID cards. For entities, registration and tax numbers.
• Addresses: sometimes with a website, email address or phone number.
• Programme and legal basis: a regime code such as UKR (Ukraine) or IRN (Iran), plus the Council act with its Official Journal reference.
• Listing date and remarks: the date of designation where available, plus the UN reference for listings that implement UN sanctions.

Where to get it: the European Commission publishes the list in its Financial Sanctions Database (FSD) as XML, CSV and PDF files, with an RSS feed for updates. In September 2026 it held more than 6,000 entries: around 4,500 individuals and 1,800 entities.

For the detailed reasons behind a listing, go to the annex of the Council act in the Official Journal. Only the Official Journal text is legally authentic.

Why all these details? They tell a true match from a namesake. The name finds the candidate, the identifiers decide. More in what is sanctions screening.

Two steps, two legal acts:

• Council Decision (CFSP): sets the policy, meaning who is targeted and which measures apply. Decisions bind the member states; measures such as travel bans are implemented nationally.
• Council Regulation: measures that touch the economy, such as asset freezes, trade and financial restrictions, follow under Article 215 TFEU. A Regulation is directly applicable to every company and person in the EU, without national implementation.

Both are published in the Official Journal of the EU and usually enter into force on the day of publication or the day after. Some measures apply only after a transition period.

The Russia listings show the pairing: Decision 2014/145/CFSP and Regulation (EU) No 269/2014. The Decision sets the policy, the Regulation binds your business.

EU sanctions apply:

• within the territory of the EU, including its airspace;
• on board any aircraft or vessel under the jurisdiction of a member state;
• to all EU nationals and EU-incorporated companies, wherever they operate;
• to any company or organisation in respect of business done in whole or in part within the EU.

Banks, payment institutions, crypto-asset service providers and other obliged entities under EU anti-money laundering rules screen systematically. And everyone else? The ban applies to all: no funds or economic resources for listed persons. Selling spare parts to PJSC Alrosa breaches it as surely as a bank transfer.

Any business with customers, suppliers or counterparties therefore needs a way to check names. More in sanctions screening in Europe.

A warning up front: an EU asset freeze also covers entities a listed person owns or controls.

Ownership means holding 50% or more, according to the EU's Best Practices (updated in July 2024). Stakes of several listed persons are added together: 30% plus 25% makes 55%, so the entity counts as owned.

Control can also arise from voting rights, the power to appoint or remove directors, or other dominant influence, even de facto. Both are presumptions that can be rebutted case by case.

For corporate customers, screen the beneficial owners and directors too. A company can be frozen without being on the list.

First, the scale: Russia is by far the largest EU sanctions programme. Its individual listings alone covered more than 3,000 individuals and entities in September 2026. The core rests on two legal frameworks, both first adopted in 2014:

• Decision 2014/145/CFSP and Regulation (EU) No 269/2014: the individual listings, with asset freezes and travel bans, over actions undermining Ukraine's territorial integrity. Their asset freeze covers Vladimir Putin, Roman Abramovich and PJSC Alrosa. In September 2026 the Council extended them until 22 September 2029, three years instead of another six months.
• Decision 2014/512/CFSP and Regulation (EU) No 833/2014: the sectoral restrictions on trade, finance, energy and transport. They include the port and services ban on shadow-fleet vessels in Annex XLII (673 ships after the 21st package).

Smaller regimes cover Crimea and Sevastopol, the occupied regions of Ukraine, Russia's destabilising activities such as hybrid threats, and human rights violations in Russia.

Since February 2022, the EU has tightened both frameworks in packages. As of 3 October 2026 it has adopted 21: the 20th on 23 April 2026, the 21st on 23 July 2026. The 21st added 218 listings (48 individuals and 170 entities), the largest batch in four years.

Two obligations reach beyond the listings:

• Best efforts: EU operators must use their best efforts to ensure non-EU entities they own or control do not undermine the sanctions. This applies under Article 8a of Regulation 833/2014 since June 2024 and Article 15a of Regulation 269/2014 since February 2025.
• No-Russia clause: since 20 March 2024, exporters selling sensitive goods to countries outside the EU's partner list must contractually prohibit re-export to Russia (Article 12g of Regulation 833/2014). Sensitive goods here means common high priority items, aviation goods, jet fuel and firearms.

Every package changes the list: a customer who screened clean after the 20th package can be listed in the 21st. Re-screen existing customers, not just new ones, for example with ongoing monitoring.

Who sets the penalties? The member states, which used to mean different outcomes across the EU. Directive (EU) 2024/1226 harmonises this: every member state must treat intentional sanctions violations and circumvention as criminal offences.

The catch: national laws were due by 20 May 2025, and not all are in place. In July 2025 the Commission opened infringement proceedings against 18 member states. In October 2026 it sent Ireland a reasoned opinion, the last step before court, for not having notified any national measures.

What the Directive requires:

• Individuals: a maximum prison sentence of at least five years for most offences involving €100,000 or more, and for breaches involving military or dual-use goods whatever their value.
• Companies: a maximum fine of at least 5% of worldwide turnover or €40 million for most offences, and at least 1% or €8 million for reporting failures.

Note the “at least”: these figures set a floor for the maximum penalty, not a cap.