The UK imposes sanctions on five Russian banks and three businessmen, Germany stops the certification (and launch) of Nord Stream 2, and the European Union blacklists 351 Russian deputies — that is, everyone who asked President Putin to recognize the independence of the DPR and LNR. And the United States is introducing restrictions on the sovereign debt of the Russian Federation and the "Russian elites." Experts in conversation with do not assess the situation with sanctions as "fatal". February 22 passed under the sign of new sanctions that Western countries are imposing or are preparing to impose on Russia in response to the recognition of the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.

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Britain: banks, Timchenko, Rotenberg

The UK was the first to decide on a new sanctions package, which introduced restrictions against several financial organizations and businessmen.

“These are Rossiya Bank, Genbank, Promsvyazbank, the Black Sea Development and Reconstruction Bank, Industrial Savings Bank. We are also imposing sanctions on three individuals. These are Gennady Timchenko, Boris Rotenberg and Igor Rotenberg, ”Sky News quoted Prime Minister Boris Johnson as saying.

The head of the British government made it clear that London would not limit itself to these measures. “We keep further sanctions in readiness for implementation,” the prime minister added. Johnson also said that the British authorities want to prevent Russian companies from raising funds on the London stock exchanges.

As for Russian persons, they will be banned from entering the UK, the assets of these persons in the kingdom will be frozen. In addition, a ban on doing business with them will be introduced.

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The European Union: State Duma deputies and organizations

All day long, EU officials made statements regarding the imminent sanctions. As a result, the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, following an informal meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the EU member states in Paris, shared details about the European package of sanctions. The restrictions will affect 351 Russian deputies who on February 15 proposed to the president to recognize the independence of the republics of Donbass.

Also, these measures will affect another 27 individuals and organizations. The EU called the recognition of the LPR and the DPR "a flagrant violation of international law and the Minsk agreements."

“Russian President Vladimir Putin is not included in the list of sanctions,” Borrell said. Earlier, he stated that he was ready to submit the draft sanctions for consideration by the EU Council, which has the right to approve restrictive measures.

Persons included in the sanctions list will not be allowed to enter the EU, and it will no longer be possible to do business with them.

“No more shopping in Milan, parties in Saint Tropez and diamonds in Antwerp. And this is the first step,” Borrell briefly described the sanctions on his Twitter page.

Later, this message disappeared from the verified account of the EU representative. At the same time, two of the four tweets, numbered as 1/4 and 2/4, remained in the branch.

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Germany: Nord Stream 2

On Tuesday, Germany also came up with a specific initiative in response to the recognition of the DPR and LPR. The German Ministry of Economy has suspended the certification process for Nord Stream 2 on the recommendation of Chancellor Olaf Scholz. He asked the country's Ministry of Economy to take the necessary administrative measures so that the gas pipeline could not yet be certified. “Without this certification, Nord Stream 2 cannot be launched,” Scholz said.

However, the freezing of this procedure is rather symbolic. Since the certification of the gas pipeline without sanctions has not been carried out since the end of last year. This is due to the need to withdraw Nord Stream 2 from the rules of the third energy package of the EU. This set of rules forbids Gazprom to be both a fuel producer and a fuel transiter at the same time. Therefore, the monopolist is now re-registering the project operator in Germany. For this period, certification was already suspended.

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US: sovereign debt, VEB and children of Russian officials

Reuters, citing its sources, reported that the US administration plans to impose sanctions against Russian individuals, their assets will be frozen. And the companies included in the "black list" will be excluded from the US banking system.

The sanctions are reportedly aimed at hurting the Russian economy by cutting off "correspondent" relationships between banks.

On February 22, already late in the evening Moscow time, US President Joe Biden spoke at a press conference and said that by the end of the day Washington would impose sanctions against the state development corporation VEB, Russia's sovereign debt, and on February 23 - against "Russian elites".

Biden also added that he continues the dialogue with Germany so that the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is not launched.

After Biden's speech, several more members of the list were revealed: these are not only VEB, but also Promsvyazbank, as well as 42 of their subsidiaries. For example, PFC CSKA.As well as the children of Russian officials - Denis Bortnikov, Pyotr Fradkov and Vladimir Kiriyenko.

Another measure is a ban on the purchase of new issues of Russian sovereign debt in the secondary market.

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Risks grow, import substitution grows

Today's sanctions, which have already been announced, indicate that Western authorities are introducing relatively mild measures, Marcel Salikhov, director of the Center for Economic Expertise at the State Medical University Higher School of Economics, believes. “At least for the time being, it’s not scary. In particular, the UK did not begin to impose sanctions against the two largest Russian state-owned banks, and this news led to a strong increase in their shares,” says Salikhov.

EU sanctions against individuals, against State Duma deputies who voted for the recognition of the DPR and LPR, will also not have a serious impact, the expert believes.

Salikhov suggests that disconnection from the SWIFT system of international settlements is unlikely, since the European energy and financial institutions themselves will have difficulties in receiving payments from Russian companies for loans or payments in their favor for the supply of energy resources. “Such sanctions will have a negative impact on the EU, so they can be introduced as a last resort,” the expert concludes.

In Russia, there has already been a realization that sanctions are not only risks, but also opportunities for developing their own economy through import substitution, notes Denis Paleev, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Economics of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia. “We managed to introduce our own Mir payment system, managed to take control of basic banking technologies, and an ordinary citizen did not notice any problems. A shortage of imported goods arose, but did not last long. Today we see that Russia has significantly increased its independence in terms of food,” says Paleev.

State Duma Deputy, Doctor of Economics Nikolai Novichkov says that over the past eight years, Russia has received "a cloud of sanctions" from the US and the EU.

“Most of them are not fatal for our economy. Some of them, of course, are unpleasant, but this is not a matter of life and death. In eight years, we have received vaccinations that allow us to live in the sanctions regime,” says Novichkov.

According to the deputy, the recognition of the DPR and LPR is a step towards peace. “The recognition of the republics, I am sure, will also be appreciated by the financial markets, which are extremely sensitive to all the phenomena of international turbulence,” says deputy Novichkov.

bbabo.Net