Faced with the sanctions announced by the Europeans in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the question of their repercussions on the French economy arises.
Bruno Le Maire wanted to be reassuring this Thursday on RMC-BFM: “
Russia is not a major state for France.
The impacts on the French economy will therefore be limited
,” he said.
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But the situation still worries the president of the majority agricultural union FNSEA, Christiane Lambert, who fears retaliatory measures from Russia, particularly on agricultural products.
A phenomenon that occurred in 2014 when the EU imposed sanctions against Russia in response to the annexation of Crimea.
"
I am ready to receive Christiane Lambert from the FNSEA and look at the risks of impact on agriculture
", assured the Minister of the Economy on Thursday.
"We have a battery of much more penalizing sanctions"
On gas, Bruno Le Maire also wanted to be reassuring.
“
There are a few companies, particularly in the energy fields, which may have difficulties, such as SMEs or subcontractors.
We will also receive them to accompany them
,” he said.
He indeed acknowledged that there could be an increase in the price of gas.
"
The gas price freeze runs until the summer of 2022. If it ever has to be extended because we are seeing an explosion in the price, it seems essential to me to do so
", he put forward while recalling that France relies on Moscow for only 20% for its imports, while the European average is 40%.
With regard to oil, Bruno Le Maire opts for the moment for a simple observation of the evolution of prices “
without ruling out any option.
(...) We don't know what Vladimir Putin's decisions will be and how far the price of a barrel will go
”.
Read alsoUkraine: EU sanctions in force from Wednesday evening or Thursday
Regarding economic sanctions against Russia, Bruno Le Maire was extremely firm.
“
I want to be very clear: we have a battery of much more penalizing sanctions if Vladimir Putin persists in violating the law.
All of the European finance ministers are working on a set of sanctions that will be infinitely more penalizing for Russian interests and the Russian economy.
»
