March 22, 2022 Socio-Economic Situation in Russia. Sanctions in Action

RF

Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport is unable to employ 40% of all its employees amid the crisis in the aviation industry due to sanctions against Russia. Almost seven thousand staff members have lost their jobs.

Deputy General Director of the tour operator “Rosyugkurort”has warned Russian tourists about the rise in price of summer vacation in Sochi. Almost all the hotels the company works with have already raised their prices or warned that they will do so in the near future.

Roszdravnadzorpoints out an increase in drug prices, but not from the list of vital ones, - said the deputy head of the department.

The museums of the Moscow Kremlin have postponed the exhibition “Duel. From God's Judgment to a Noble Crime”, which was scheduled for March 4. The basis of the joint project was to be exhibits from European museums, which have stopped cooperation with Russia.

Russian chess player Sergei Karyakin, who supported the military operation in Ukraine, was disqualified for six months by the ethics commission of the International Chess Federation.

Europe and the World

One of the largest steel producers in Europe, Arcelor Mittal, has abandoned Russian goods after Russia’s invading Ukraine. Russia has been a key supplier of iron ore and coal (20%) to blast furnaces in the European region, and ArcelorMittal has been planning for three weeks to halt and divert raw materials. According to the annual report, the company used to buy iron ore from sanctioned billionaire AlisherUsmanov, who owns Metaloinvest.

New Zealand dairy producer Fonterra has said it is closing its Moscow office. At the end of February, Fonterra stopped supplying products to Russia. The company took these measures to “assess the impact of economic sanctions and discuss long-term plans with customers and partners”, the company has said. “After careful consideration of the consequences for our employees and our long-term plans in the Russian market, we will close our office in Moscow, redeploy staff where possible, and leave the joint venture with Unifood”, the company has said.

Poland intends to introduce additional taxes for its companies, which continue to operate in Russia, - said a spokesman for the government.

A group of companies Fast Retailing - a Japanese holding company for the production of fashionable clothes, a leader in the world market –has decided to officially close Uniqlo stores in Moscow. At the same time, all 50 UNIQLO shops in Russia, as well as the online shop, closed on March 21, 2022, all orders in shops are unavailable and automatically canceled.

Italian energy company Enel will leave the Russian market in a few months, said Francesco Starache, CEO.

In Russia, registration for all IELTS English exams has been suspended, according to the website of the IELTS Students International Examination Center.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is preparing to introduce a special management regime at Gazprom Marketing & Trading Retail Ltd., which retails gas in the United Kingdom. According to Bloomberg, the company has more than 30,000 corporate clients.

The international oil service group KCA Deutag has announced the suspension of new investments in Russia and is deciding the future of its Russian structure.

The German company Linde, one of the world's leading producers of industrial gases, has stopped developing new projects in Russia.

Germany has signed a long-term agreement with Qatar to supply liquefied natural gas to replace Russia’s one. Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck said the deal is a “doorway” for the country's economy.

Japanese auto parts manufacturer IHI will stop production in Russia. This is a joint venture Alpha Automotive Technologies, 17% of which belongs to the Likhachovautomobile plant.

The EU plans to toughen thesanctions by closing seaports to Russian ships and banning energy imports, said Slovenian Foreign Minister Ange Logar.

Latvia will ban the entry of Russian ships into its ports, - said the Minister of Communications of the country.

Foreign companies began to leave Russia en masse amid sanctions imposed by Western countries in response to Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Such beverage giants as Coca-Cola and Valio have already ceased operations in Russia. PepsiCo has stopped advertising and selling beverages. Danone has stopped investment projects. Nestle has stopped supplying Nespresso coffee.

A number of European countries are withdrawing their works from Russian museums ahead of schedule. The Royal Arms Museum in Leeds “due to the aggravation of the situation in Ukraine has withdrawn items” provided for display in Moscow, writes the British The Guardian. The artifacts have left Russia and are located in Europe.

Calls for the arrest of exhibits of “Faberge in London: From Romanticism to Revolution” exhibition that are on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum until May 8. The exhibition presents works by Russian jeweler of German origin Peter Karl Faberge, in particular the jewelry egg “Moscow’s Kremlin” dated 1906. Some of Faberge's works were bought by Russian businessman Victor Vekselberg, who is under US sanctions, from the family of New York magnate Malcolm Forbes in 2004.

France has recalled 15 artifacts transferred to Moscow from the Louvre, Versailles and the National Library. Austria and Spain have also withdrawn their items sent to the Moscow Museum ahead of schedule. The exposition was to be supplemented by artifacts from the collection of the National Prado Museum in Madrid and the Museum of Art History in Vienna.

In Germany, some museums have also refused to rent works of art from Russian collections. For example, at the exhibition “Renoir. The Rococo Revival”, which opened at the Stedel Art Institute in Frankfurt am Main in early March, two paintings from Russia were supposed to be exhibited.

The organizers of the exhibition “The Fall of the Ancient Rome” at the Land Museum of the German city of Trier also refused to exhibit items from Russia. “We don't want to borrow anything from a country that has attacked its neighbor”, said museum director Marcus Reuter. The exhibition, which is due to open on June 25, was to exhibit three artifacts from the Hermitage.

The StiftungSchlossFriedenstein (SSF) in Thuringia stopped cooperating with Russian museums in early March. “It is unthinkable to stay in touch with Russian government agencies in this situation and continue ongoing projects”, said Tobias Pfeifer-Helke, director of the foundation.