The creation of a “shield” for energy-intensive companies is one of the topics addressed on Tuesday by EU finance ministers, who met in a virtual meeting convened by France to discuss sanctions on Russia and the economic consequences, reports EFE.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire explained in an interview with France Info radio on Tuesday that he and his colleagues would do their utmost to establish a European protection system in the context of escalating prices caused by the war in Ukraine, according to Agerpres.

Specifically, a “tariff shield” is envisaged for certain companies that consume a lot of gas and for which these increases can pose problems of competitiveness in international markets.

Le Maire estimated that there would be a “small price increase” due to tensions in energy markets as a result of the conflict, and acknowledged that it had not been decided to include in its sanctions for Moscow the suspension of its gas and oil sales – the main source revenue – because this scenario “is very complicated for some European countries”.

In this regard, he explained that if it had been for France, “we would probably have gone further” in this regard. But France is 20 percent dependent on Russian gas for supplies, while other Central and Eastern European countries are heavily dependent on it, of up to 100%.