The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) called on the Council of Europe member states and observer states, as well as the European Union, to create a public register of organizations and individuals working in the interests of the Russian Federation, as well as a register of companies and individuals evading sanctions.

This is stated in the resolution "Political consequences of the Russian Federation's war of aggression against Ukraine," adopted at the PACE plenary meeting in Strasbourg on Thursday.

Believing that an effective framework to address sanction avoidance should rest on the following elements, the Assembly calls on Council of Europe member and observer States and the European Union to take them into account: creating strategic European economic autonomy from Russian oil and gas that are used for Russian imperialistic geopolitical purposes; introducing measures to reduce the resale of Russian oil and gas to Europe via third countries.

The PACE recommendations also include expanding the list of individuals and entities targeted by the restrictive measures in the Russian Federation and third countries; identifying the major categories of entities and individuals which play a significant role in sanction avoidance, such as banks, insurance companies, financial advisers, financial institutions, transport and logistics companies, ports, and service companies.

According to the resolution, the problem of sanctions evasion will be solved by setting up effective mechanisms to monitor sanctions compliance, for instance a dedicated Task Force; introducing and implementing secondary sanctions, and monitoring compliance with them; as well as introducing international guidelines for financial institutions to assess risks carefully for customers and transactions prone to sanction avoidance.

The PACE also suggested considering the establishment of a pan-European body with the authority to investigate and prosecute persons involved in sanctions avoidance.

"Such a body (Task Force), like the Register of the States and entities, banks and firms that are circumventing sanctions, should be established as soon as possible and it should work in parallel with the Register of Damage," the resolution notes.

In addition, it suggested introducing monetary incentives for whistle-blowers reporting specific details of sanction avoidance.