Sanctions against Russia will get tougher in the next couple of years

 

Sanctions against Russia will get tougher in the next couple of yearsAdditional EU sanctions against Russia in connection with Crimea will concern not only tourism and investments, they will also include the trading of energy resources and other products, TASS reports, referring to a diplomatic source. These measures should enter into force on Saturday. The new limitations placed by the EU are not part of the general set of sanctions against Russia but are a part of the EU strategy of non-recognition of Crimea as a part of Russia. Tomorrow the leaders of the EU-countries will discuss the impact of the sanctions on the Russian economy.  Professor Alexander Gusev, head of the Center for Strategic Development of the CIS, the Russian Academy of Sciences, commented to VK on the sanctions against Russia.- In your opinion, how does the economic situation in the Russian Federation affect the European economy?- In 2013 the trade turnover between Russia and the EU countries was 417 billion dollars. It is a lot. It means that the EU and Russia were strategic partners. Naturally, the sanctions against Russia reduced the turnover. It has decreased by 38%. Neither the EU nor Russia will receive the amount of money they did in 2013.  Neither the European budget nor the Russian one will get it. Any sanctions equally affect the country against which they were meant but also those countries that introduced them. This is a two-way street. - And what about the US sanctions?- Trade turnover between Russia and the US is minimal. In 2013 it was only 27 billion dollars. So this is the difference – 417 billion with the EU, 27 billion with the US. Clearly, the sanctions of the US do not affect the volume of trade. That is why the US is "twisting the arms" of the EU countries. The EU countries are not independent, they are acting under the influence of the US, but they went into it thinking that the US would help. I meant real money that the EU countries were promised from the World Bank, the Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the IMF. Alliance with the US to some degree minimized the damages of sanctions. But nobody helps us, we have to earn it ourselves. There are also sanctions that affect the controlled regime of price formation for hydrocarbons. This hits the Russian economy. The EU countries are not directly involved here, because they do not extract hydrocarbons, They do it only for internal use and almost don't sell.  This syndicate association of the biggest world powers, including the US and the EU and the oil-producing countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, determine the financial situation in Russia.- What in your opinion should the Russian government do to stabilize the situation?- To use all the resources and to switch our economy to manual control, because the market will not help here. To decrease the refinancing rate that was illegally raised to 17%, stop the flight of capital abroad. It is difficult to speak about investments, because foreign businessmen are not eager to invest in our country. The first thing to do is to stabilize the economic situation. If we don't do that, the currency rate in a month will increase twofold, and we will have 140-150 rubles to the euro and 120 rubles to the dollar.- An unnamed representative of the European Commission claimed the the EU does not want the collapse of the Russian economy, and the EU is concerned by the current situation. Is this really the case?- It is complete hypocrisy! It is ridiculous to say the the European Commission regrets our "Black Tuesday" and Russia's colossal difficulties in the economic sphere. Their task is simple - to bring Russia to its knees. This is the key task of their moderator in Washington, and the key countries of the EU. One should not pay attention to what the EC or the EU says. We need to follow our own path, take measures to stabilize the political and economic situation in the country.- The panic on the market has abated, but on Monday and Tuesday it was particularly strong when the rates were 80 rubles to the dollar and 100 rubles to the euro. If the financial situation in Russia gets worse, will it be a reason to remove the sanctions?- Nobody plans to remove the sanctions. They were not introduced to be removed in two or three months. The sanctions are a long story. The sanctions will last for two-three years at least and will become stronger. We need to be ready for this and stop nagging. We need to be ready for the sanctions to become bigger and heavier.

 

Additional EU sanctions against Russia in connection with Crimea will concern not only tourism and investments, they will also include the trading of energy resources and other products, TASS reports, referring to a diplomatic source. These measures should enter into force on Saturday. The new limitations placed by the EU are not part of the general set of sanctions against Russia but are a part of the EU strategy of non-recognition of Crimea as a part of Russia. Tomorrow the leaders of the EU-countries will discuss the impact of the sanctions on the Russian economy.  Professor Alexander Gusev, head of the Center for Strategic Development of the CIS, the Russian Academy of Sciences, commented to VK on the sanctions against Russia.

- In your opinion, how does the economic situation in the Russian Federation affect the European economy?

 
- In 2013 the trade turnover between Russia and the EU countries was 417 billion dollars. It is a lot. It means that the EU and Russia were strategic partners. Naturally, the sanctions against Russia reduced the turnover. It has decreased by 38%. Neither the EU nor Russia will receive the amount of money they did in 2013.  Neither the European budget nor the Russian one will get it. Any sanctions equally affect the country against which they were meant but also those countries that introduced them. This is a two-way street.

 

 - And what about the US sanctions?

 

- Trade turnover between Russia and the US is minimal. In 2013 it was only 27 billion dollars. So this is the difference – 417 billion with the EU, 27 billion with the US. Clearly, the sanctions of the US do not affect the volume of trade. That is why the US is "twisting the arms" of the EU countries. The EU countries are not independent, they are acting under the influence of the US, but they went into it thinking that the US would help. I meant real money that the EU countries were promised from the World Bank, the Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the IMF. Alliance with the US to some degree minimized the damages of sanctions. But nobody helps us, we have to earn it ourselves. There are also sanctions that affect the controlled regime of price formation for hydrocarbons. This hits the Russian economy. The EU countries are not directly involved here, because they do not extract hydrocarbons, They do it only for internal use and almost don't sell.  This syndicate association of the biggest world powers, including the US and the EU and the oil-producing countries, such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, determine the financial situation in Russia.

 

- What in your opinion should the Russian government do to stabilize the situation?

 
- To use all the resources and to switch our economy to manual control, because the market will not help here. To decrease the refinancing rate that was illegally raised to 17%, stop the flight of capital abroad. It is difficult to speak about investments, because foreign businessmen are not eager to invest in our country. The first thing to do is to stabilize the economic situation. If we don't do that, the currency rate in a month will increase twofold, and we will have 140-150 rubles to the euro and 120 rubles to the dollar.

 

- An unnamed representative of the European Commission claimed the the EU does not want the collapse of the Russian economy, and the EU is concerned by the current situation. Is this really the case?

 
- It is complete hypocrisy! It is ridiculous to say the the European Commission regrets our "Black Tuesday" and Russia's colossal difficulties in the economic sphere. Their task is simple - to bring Russia to its knees. This is the key task of their moderator in Washington, and the key countries of the EU. One should not pay attention to what the EC or the EU says. We need to follow our own path, take measures to stabilize the political and economic situation in the country.

 

- The panic on the market has abated, but on Monday and Tuesday it was particularly strong when the rates were 80 rubles to the dollar and 100 rubles to the euro. If the financial situation in Russia gets worse, will it be a reason to remove the sanctions?

 
- Nobody plans to remove the sanctions. They were not introduced to be removed in two or three months. The sanctions are a long story. The sanctions will last for two-three years at least and will become stronger. We need to be ready for this and stop nagging. We need to be ready for the sanctions to become bigger and heavier.