The European Union is considering easing state aid rules for companies hit by EU sanctions against Russia over Ukraine, and the bloc's competition regulators are considering various support measures, the European Commission said on Monday, Reuters reported.

Two years ago, the head of the EC set a precedent by relaxing some of the rules on state aid to businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic, allowing individual member states to invest billions of euros in their companies.

“The Commission is closely monitoring the situation and is ready to use the full flexibility of its state aid toolbox in order to enable member states to support companies and sectors severely impacted by the current geopolitical developments,” Commission spokeswoman Arianna Podesta said in an email.

“We are looking at all tools at our disposal – permanent and temporary,” she said.

Thousands of European companies, from airlines to banks to automakers, are expected to be hit hard by the sanctions. Philip Lane, chief economist at the European Central Bank, told fellow politicians that the conflict in Ukraine could lead to a reduction in eurozone output this year.