US President Joe Biden's sanctions on Russia have not knocked the Russians out of their seats - at least not outwardly
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"The actual blow was not as strong as the threats," Russian journalists told Echo Moscow Radio, one of the country's most popular radio stations owned by Gazprom.
The sanctions were defined there as "weak, soft and disappointing" because they were not imposed against Putin personally (until tonight), and did not include Russia's disengagement from the international clearing system SWIFT nor restrictions on oil and gas exports.
Although Putin has not yet officially responded to the sanctions and it is difficult to know what is really going through his mind.
On the one hand the next day the Russian armored forces advanced to the center of Kiev, but on the other hand he also announced that he was ready to negotiate with the Ukrainians.
Putin's declaration of war // Photo: Reuters
One way or another, sanctions on Russia have already caused panic among the country's citizens.
The Russians pounced on ATMs and withdrew cash - both rubles and dollars - in unprecedented amounts, and even emptied their foreign currency cash in some branches. .
"Fails to transfer money abroad.
The price of electronics has jumped since yesterday.
The Google Pay and Apple Pay apps also do not work, "says one Russian resident. This is just the beginning: Russian citizens still do not understand the scope of sanctions imposed by the West, and those who understand are stockpiling cash. Since the beginning of the war The ruble, and has succeeded for the time being.
The standard of living of households depends on the stability of the economy.
If it grows and thrives, there is usually a positive impact on households and spending on citizens can be increased in the form of benefits and grants.
And vice versa: when a country becomes poorer, it directly affects its citizens as well.
"Banks will not be able to make transfers," Photo: IPA
Oleg Wiggin, one of Russia's top economists and who served as deputy governor of the central bank, actually disagrees with the statement that the sanctions were weak.
"It is not yet clear to us what the restrictions on access to the dollar, euro, wine and pound mean for Russian corporations, but it could lead to chaos in Russia's foreign trade and a significant drop in corporate revenues - thus affecting the state's tax revenues," he told Echo Moscow.
"In addition, the sanctions on the Russian banks are impressive in terms of the quantity and quality of the banks. These banks will not be able to make transfers in dollars, euros, pounds and yen, and the ruble can only be transferred within the country. .
According to Wiggins, the most severe sanction in the longer term is the ban on importing Western technology to Russia.
"Russia does not know how to produce chips like Taiwan does in American technology, I do not know if China can be a substitute," he added.
Just the beginning?
Biden's sanctions can only be the beginning.
Although no actual sanctions have been imposed on oil and gas exports so far, that does not mean it will not happen later.
The US has no energy dependence on Russia, but about 40% of gas in Europe is imported from Russia by Gazprom. The EU could replace Russian gas with gas from the UAE or Saudi Arabia - something that would take time, but certainly possible. Putin and other senior Russian government officials.
Meanwhile, according to Bloomberg, the wealth of the country's richest entrepreneurs fell on the first night of the operation by $ 39 billion.
This is as a result of the collapse of the Russian stock market, which of course will not end if the war continues.
In the first place of the "poor" billionaires stood the president of LUKOIL, and Git Alkaprov, whose fortune was reduced by about $ 6.2 billion to $ 13 billion.
The head of Norilsk Nickel, Vladimir Putin, lost about $ 3 billion (his assets are estimated at $ 26 billion).
The losses of the head of the board of directors of Severstel, Alexei Mordeshov, amounted to $ 4 billion and $ 200 million (his fortune is estimated at $ 23 billion).
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