Ukraine conflict: Russia's fear of the consequences of the sanctions
Created: 02/23/2022, 18:27
The uncertainty that the Kremlin has been spreading at home and abroad for months is now also affecting its own economy.
Moscow - It caught the football club CSKA Moscow.
Fourth in the table in the Russian Premier League landed on the US* sanctions list as one of 25 subsidiaries of the state Vneshekonombank (WEB).
Now fans and officials are puzzling over the consequences for the 2005 Uefa Cup winner. Contracts with US sporting goods manufacturers are therefore prohibited, as is payment transactions with advertising platforms such as YouTube.
This also applies to player transfers, depending on the assets held by the opposite side in the USA.
"If the EU and the UK join in with similar sanctions, things will get much worse," the Sowetski Sport newspaper warns.
Then CSKA could probably forget about all player purchases from abroad.
The Russian economy - in the picture Moscow - is facing uncertain times.
© AFP
Uncertainty about the Ukraine conflict is now also tormenting Russia
After Moscow* recognized the rebel republics in eastern Ukraine, the West imposed its first sanctions on Russia.
The uncertainty that the Kremlin has been spreading in Ukraine and the West for months is now also tormenting its own economy.
From March 1, the USA will completely ban the purchase of Russian government bonds, as well as all transactions with WEB and Promsvyazbank, which is considered the house bank of the Russian defense industry.
Washington is also freezing the assets of close followers of Vladimir Putin* and their relatives.
Great Britain also put five Russian banks and three billionaires close to the Kremlin on the sanctions list.
Germany put Nord Stream 2 licensing on hold, the EU announced punitive measures against 27 officials, institutions and banks involved in the aggression against Ukraine*.
Also affected are the 351 members of the Duma who voted to recognize the separatist republics.
Your assets in Europe will be frozen and your entry will be banned.
The West is threatening to intensify this “first barrage”, as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson calls it, should Russia* continue its aggression.
Ukraine conflict: Russia is outwardly unperturbed by sanctions
Official Russia reacted unperturbed.
"There will be a strong response to the sanctions," the Russian Foreign Ministry said on the US sanctions.
"Not necessarily symmetrical, but balanced and noticeable for the American side." No sanctions pressing is capable of influencing Russia's determination to firmly represent its interests.
There is more unrest in business circles.
"The sanctions against the WEB are unpleasant," says Valeri Mironow, financial expert at the Moscow School of Economics, the
Frankfurter Rundschau*
.
The government sees the WEB as a sponsor of its reforms and major projects.
Now the state must support them in this capacity with budgetary funds.
"But since WEB operates outside of the usual financial transactions, the rest of the Russian banking system and its solvency are not affected."
To the author
Stefan Scholl reports from Russia
as a correspondent for the
Frankfurter Rundschau .
Sanctions over Ukraine conflict make Russian economy nervous
And according to Mironow, the tax authorities are currently benefiting from the high commodity prices caused by the crisis.
Such additional income dampens the effect of the sanctions.
But many business people are less afraid of the consequences of the already known and manageable penalties than of what could come.
According to the Reuters agency, other Russian financial institutions are also threatened with sanctions that will cut them off from international payment transactions.
The newspaper Kommersant does not rule out blocking the Swift transfer system for all of Russia*.
Fears of delivery bans for smartphones, microchips and other high-tech spare parts are circulating in the sectors, including for the automotive industry.
Even a possible switch from Europe to the USA as the main gas supplier is being debated.
Nervousness that costs money.
According to the Bloomberg agency, Russia's 23 richest businessmen have already lost $32 billion since the beginning of the year, while their total wealth is said to be $343 billion.
The Moscow stock exchanges are tumbling, as is the ruble. Yesterday a dollar cost more than 80 rubles again. According to Bloomberg, the ruble is now the most unstable currency in the world.
"Turn off the terminals," stockbroker Grigory Sosnovsky advises investors on the
forbes.ru
portal .
"The markets could remain unpredictable longer than they are solvent." (
Stefan Scholl
)
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