1.The following shall be prohibited:
(a)the granting of any financial loan or credit to any Syrian person, entity or body referred to in paragraph 2;
(b)the acquisition or extension of a participation in any Syrian person, entity or body referred to in paragraph 2;
(c)the creation of any joint venture with any Syrian person, entity or body referred to in paragraph 2;
(d)the participation, knowingly and intentionally, in activities the object or effect of which is to circumvent the prohibitions referred to in point (a), (b) or (c).
2.The prohibitions in paragraph 1 shall apply to any Syrian person, entity or body engaged in:
(a)the exploration, production or refining of crude oil; or
(b)the construction or installation of new power plants for electricity production.
3.For the purposes of paragraph 2 only, the following definitions shall apply:
(a)'exploration of crude oil' includes the exploration for, prospecting for and management of crude oil reserves, as well as the provision of geological services in relation to such reserves;
(b)'refining of crude oil' means the processing, conditioning or preparation of oil for the ultimately final sale of fuels.
4.The prohibitions in paragraph 1:
(a)shall be without prejudice to the execution of an obligation arising from contracts or agreements relating to:
the exploration, production or refining of crude oil, concluded before 23 September 2011;
the construction or installation of new power plants for electricity production concluded prior to 19 January 2012;
(b)shall not prevent the extension of a participation relating to:
the exploration, production or refining of crude oil, if such extension is an obligation under an agreement concluded before 23 September 2011;
the construction or installation of new power plants for electricity production if such extension is an obligation under an agreement concluded prior to 19 January 2012.