April 1, 2022 Socio-Economic Situation in the RF. Sanctions in Action

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The central bank of russia has announced that the country's gold and foreign exchange reserves over the past five weeks had decreased by almost $ 39 billion. At the same time, it predicts that the losses of russian banks in 2022 could range from 3.5 trillion to 5.8 trillion rubles. sberbank and vtb estimated their potential losses from participation in government support programs at almost 600 billion rubles.

The head of the union of oil and gas producers of russia yuri shafranik suggested that sales of russian oil in 2022 could fall by 20%.

Demand for luxury suburban real estate near Moscow has fallen sharply. In the first quarter, demand fell by 30% compared to the same period last year, according to a report by luxury real estate agency Tweed. During this period, only 150 agreements were concluded in moscow region.

The multinational automobile company Stellantis is stopping production at a plant in kaluga.

spokesman for the president of the russian federation peskov called hooliganism the mass damage to the property of those who criticize the rf’s invasion of Ukraine. Earlier, he called not to antagonize cultural figures who oppose the occupation of Ukraine. According to him, such people should simply be “patiently explained”.

The official representative of the russian foreign ministry zakharova believes that the actions of Western countries against russia, affecting the humanitarian sphere, including athletes and cultural figures, are unacceptable. She reminded that within the framework of this campaign against russia, performances of cultural and artistic figures in other countries are canceled, students from foreign universities are expelled, and athletes are excluded from participation in sports events.

Employees of the ministry of internal affairs of the rf found “facts of posting information aimed at discrediting the use of the armed forces of the russian federation in order to protect the interests of the russian federation”, the press service of the ministry of internal affairs of the stavropol territory said. Police from izobilne, arzgir and shpak districts identified as the offenders the people posting “pictures and photos discrediting the russian army” on their social media-accessible pages.

Administrative protocols were drawn up against all three under the article “public actions aimed at discrediting the use of the armed forces of the russian federation in order to protect the interests of the russian federation and its citizens, support international peace and security”. According to the decision of the district courts, the citizens were found guilty and fined in the amount of 30 thousand to 40 thousand rubles. The website of shpak district court reported that one of the administrative offenses had been considered: in March 2022, a citizen posted a photo of teenagers from one of mikhailovsk's schools on his “personal page” on Instagram, and in the text under the photo he condemned the action of schoolchildren’s writing letters to support the russian army, complaining that the thesis “children out of politics” is just words. The court considers that this can be interpreted as “public appeals to prevent the use of the armed forces of the russian federation ... in support of international peace and security”.

Sales of drugs through Avito are in fact a crime, - said deputy minister of health care glagoliev. On March 30, of oreign Affairs roszdravnadzor reported an active resale of drugs via the russian internet.

The ministry of health care of the rf is considering the possibility of purchasing abroad certain types of drugs, with which there is a shortage in russia.

minister of education falkov has said that almost 850 russians, who were “unjustifiably expelled from European universities”, should be transferred to russian universities.

The moscow arbitration court has scheduled a hearing on April 15 to consider the application of the federal tax service №7 in moscow to declare Radio Svobodnaya Evropa / Radio Svoboda (recognized in russia as a foreign media agent) insolvent (bankrupt) under a simplified procedure.

kuibyshev court of omsk chose a measure of restraint against the independent deputy of the city council Dmitro Petrenko, accused under part 2. art. 207.3 of the criminal code of the russian federation (public dissemination of knowingly false information about the use of the armed forces of the rf). Until May 28, he is prohibited from using means of communication, attending public meetings, making statements through the media, and communicating with other participants in the investigation. A copy of the ruling on the involvement of Dmytro Petrenko as a defendant states that the deputy allegedly posted a message on social networks containing knowingly false information about artillery strikes by the russian armed forces on facilities in Mariupol, which resulted in casualties. Dmytro Petrenko also allegedly posted a photo of destroyed houses and injured children.

the chairman of the commission of the state duma to investigate the facts of foreign interference in the affairs of russia piskaryov called on the prosecutor general to recognize as extremist the white-blue-white flag used in protests against the invasion of Ukraine.

putin instructed to introduce a state program to return a share of the cost of tickets for canceled flights inside the country.

The self-proclaimed president of belarus, lukashenko, has stated that russia and belarus will be reborn. “No one today doubts that we will not just survive, but will be reborn as a phoenix from the ashes. I would not like to. But we were put in such conditions”, he said.

roskomnadzor has announced that it would draw up a report on Wikipedia under art. 13.41 of the code of administrative offenses of the russian federation for failure to remove “unreliable socially significant materials”. The reason was articles that contain, in the opinion of the agency, false information about russia's aggression against Ukraine. Online encyclopedia faces a fine of up to 4 million rubles. According to the roskomnadzor’s document, the resource in violation of the law disseminates information about a “special military operation” to protect the Donbas, as well as the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine. The agency points out that the Wikipedia article mentions “numerous casualties among servicemen of the russian federation, as well as the civilian population of Ukraine, including children”, which does not correspond to the official data published by the russian ministry of defense.

In the village of kalinovo in moscow region, unknown people painted fascist symbols on a monument to tankers.

tass has reported that 117,000 russian tourists had finally returned from abroad, unable to return home due to international sanctions.

russia has blocked the activities of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.

Nigeria is ready to trade with russia in national currencies, - said the country's ambassador to moscow Abdullah Shehu.

Europe and the World

Representatives of the US and EU foreign ministries held the first meeting within the framework of a high-level dialogue, which discussed additional sanctions against russia for its military invasion of Ukraine. Following the meeting, the US State Department said that they were discussing “additional steps to further isolate russia from the US and EU economies and the international financial system in order to create tough costs for russia for its actions”.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) forecasts a 10% drop in russia's economy in 2022 and zero growth in 2023 due to international sanctions.

Representatives of the EU antitrust regulator have begun inspecting gazprom's offices in the EU.

The US Treasury Department has imposed new sanctions on individuals and legal entities “related to cyber activity”. 13 people and 21 companies have been banned.

russian major general yevgeny bobkin was expelled from the Association of Defense Attaches in Washington (DAA). bobkin was expelled after a request from the military attache of the Ukrainian embassy. About 60 countries voted to expel the russian general.

The United Kingdom is extending financial, trade and freight sanctions in Crimea, in addition to the so-called “LPR” and “DPR”, the Foreign Ministry said.

The United Kingdom has expanded the list of sanctions against russia. It was joined by the head of the national defense management center, mizintsev and TV presenter Briliov. Sanctions have also been imposed against the federal information company russia today.

The Lithuanian government has included russia and belarus in the list of hostile states, on the basis of which it will be possible to exclude companies from those countries from public procurement tenders or terminate the agreements concluded with them.

Australia has imposed a customs duty of 35% on all goods imported from russia and belarus, - said the Australian Prime Minister.

Index provider S&P Dow Jones Indices has announced the exclusion from March 31 of the bonds of a number of russian and belarusian companies from 11 indices due to the risks associated with sanctions. The list of companies includes Veon, ALROSA Finance, Bashneft, Zenit Bank, RZD Capital, KamAZ, Lukoil Capital, VEB Finance, Rusal Capital D.A.C. SIBUR Securities, OJSC “Development Bank of the Republic of Belarus” and others. Bonds of the moscow government were also excluded.

Japan will return to the Blue Book on Diplomacy the information about russia's occupation of the Kuril Islands. The Blue Book will say that these are “territories that are an integral part of Japan and are now illegally occupied by russia”. The definition of “occupation” was last mentioned in the 2003 Blue Book, and the islands’ belonging to Japan – in 2011. The Blue Book on Diplomacy is a diplomatic guide published annually by the Japanese Foreign Ministry since 1957.

Earlier, Japan imposed sanctions on russia over its aggression against Ukraine. In response, russia refused to negotiate the status of the Kuril Islands and conclude a peace treaty, and cancelled the visa-free regime for the Japanese in the Kuril Islands.

Italia’s Prime Minister Draghi has said that putin has announced the extension of Italian gas contracts, with companies paying in euros and dollars. At the same time, putin's spokesman peskov confirmed the information that a scheme is being considered for “unfriendly countries” to pay in euros for Russian gas through gazprombank, which will transfer funds in rubles.

The international rating agency Moody's has revoked the ratings of Russian companies. In early March, the agency suspended commercial activities in russia and downgraded the country's credit rating to default. Similar decisions were previously made by rating agencies Fitch and S&P Global Ratings, which will revoke the ratings of russian companies by April 15.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said his country is ready to be one of the guarantors of security for Ukraine.

According to Finance Minister Mikael Damberg, Sweden will allocate 10.5 billion Swedish kronor (₴ 1.1 billion) in housing and other expenses for Ukrainian refugees in the spring budget.

France and Germany are preparing additional sanctions against russia in case the EU leaders decide. This was announced on March 31 by French Finance Minister Bruno Le Mer.

French Economy Minister Bruno Le Mer said that the G7 does not agree with russia's demands to pay for gas in rubles, and stressed that contracts must be adhered to. At the same time, the German Chancellor said that dependence on russian oil and coal imports could be eliminated this year, but gas will take longer.

Danish construction companies Aarsleff and VELUX have announced they are closing down in russia.

The Central Bank of Kazakhstan has issued new recommendations to the country's commercial banks, which have significantly complicated the issuance of Visa and Mastercard to russians. Among other things, these rules provide for an assessment of geographical risk, namely the risk of providing services to citizens of the country against which international sanctions have been imposed. Thus, previously organized in Russia “card tours” to open cards of these payment systems in Kazakhstan do not make sense.

Google has said that hackers from russia tried to attack the information resources of the military authorities of several Eastern European countries and the NATO Center of Excellence. Suspicious mails were sent from newly created Gmail accounts to external accounts.

In Finland, 61% of citizens are in favor of membership in the North Atlantic Alliance. This is evidenced by a new poll conducted for the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat.

Denmark will send 800 troops to Latvia to strengthen the NATO contingent in the Baltic country. This statement was made by Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen.

The chairman of the UN Human Rights Council, Federico Villegas, has set up an international independent commission to investigate war crimes in Ukraine. The commission was initially established for one year.