March 26, 2022 Socio-Economic Situation in the RF. Sanctions in Action

Due to the aggravation of the financial situation in the country, the Russian government intends to refuse to finance the project of building a high-speed railway from Moscow to St. Petersburg, which was planned from the National Welfare Fund.

Novatek, Russia's main competitor to Gazprom, is suspending work on all its projects, except for the first phase of “Arctic LNG-2”. In particular, it is about “Ob LNG” and “Ob GKh”.

Inflation in Russia in 2022 will be ambiguous, but prices cannot be frozen in any case, as this would lead to the disappearance of goods, – said the Chairman of the Board of VTB Bank Andriy Kostin.

The European Organization for the Operation of Satellites has begun to delay the transfer of information from geostationary meteorological satellites to Russia, – said Minister of Environment of the Russian Federation Oleksandr Kozlov.

Russian airlines have warned the Russian authorities about the risks of stopping flights of regional An-24 and An-26 aircrafts due to problems with repairing turboprop engines. Earlier closed the Rostov Civil Aviation Plant 412in Rostov-on-Don. At the same time, the value of shares of “Aeroflot” was updated at least since March 2009, they fell to 25.22 rubles.

“Rusprodsoyuz” asked the Prosecutor General's Office not to deprive product manufacturers of the right to place Facebook and Instagram logos on their packaging, which was banned after Meta was recognized as an extremist organization. The association believes that the need to replace the packaging will lead to the cessation of industrial enterprises and the disappearance of the above-mentioned goods from circulation.

March 25, the Russian stock market after a positive start of trading turned down without the confident support of buyers in the face of persisting geopolitical risks, and increasing Western sanctions’ pressure on Russia. Shares of Oschadbank, VTB, Gazprom, and Mosbirzha began to fall and fell by 2.5-6%. Following the second day of trading, the Moscow Stock Exchange reported that the Russian stock market after a long pause closed down by 3.66%. At the same time, Gazprom shares fell by 11% at Mosbirzha.

The inclusion of Gazprombank in the list of UK sanctions has made it difficult for Petropavlovsk to sell gold and service debt, the gold miner's company said.

The company has to pay interests on a $ 560,000 loan from Gazprombank, but cannot do so due to sanctions. At the same time, the United Kingdom has extended a ban on transactions with gold of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation.

AvtoVAZ has announced that due to the shortage of electronic components, from June 6 the plants in Togliatti and Izhevsk will introduce a 4-day working week for a period of 3 months.

The joint venture of China's SINOPEC and SIBUR - the Amur Gas Chemical Complex – is facing problems in attracting funding amid sanctions. At the same time, SINOPEC has suspended negotiations with Novatek on the establishment of a joint venture.

Sanctioned Russian businessman Gleb Frank has sold controlling stakes in the “Russian Crab” group of companies, the “Russian Fisheries Company” and “Rockwell Capital” LLC. He also resigned as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the “Russian Crab” and the Head of the “Russian Fisheries Company”.

Roszdravnadzor states that the lack of drugs at drug stores in Russia is the result of artificial excitement, so suppliers do not have time to replenish stocks. The agency sent a letter to the heads of drug stores with a request to follow the rules of dispensing medicines.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation believes that the situation with the supply of paper should stabilize by April.

Alfa-Bank (Belarus) has frozen the investment accounts of clients who used the trust management service (securities transactions on the international stock market) due to the sanctions of Great Britain and the EU.

Europe and the World

US President Biden has said that Russia is already facing the most severe “punitive sanctions” in world history, but new ones will follow.

President Biden has promised to provide European Union countries with gas that will allow them to stop purchasing Russian natural gas “long before 2030”. Biden is personally involved in contacts with energy suppliers, including Qatar, to increase supplies to the EU.

The United States and the European Union have announced a working group to reduce Europe's dependence on Russian energy carriers. Part of this plan will be to increase liquefied natural gas imports from the United States and other countries by 15 billion cubic meters this year, and further gas supplies may be increased.

The US State Department has announced new sanctions against Russia over its ties to the DPRK. They were launched against Russian Igor Michurin, “Adris Group” and “Profpodshipnik’ in response to the transfer of “sensitive materials for the North Korean missile program”.

The American biopharmaceutical company Gilead has stated that it is suspending all business operations in Russia that are not related to vital drugs. Proceeds from the sale of medicines will be donated to humanitarian aid for Ukraine.

 March 26, the American company Hyatt hotels, which manages the world's chain of high-class hotels, terminates contracts and stops cooperation with the Hyatt Regency Moscow Petrovsky Park hotel in Moscow.

The United States has added the Russian IT company “Kaspersky’s Laboratory”, which develops cybersecurity software, to its list of legal entities that threaten the country's national security.

Prime Minister of Poland Mateusz Morawiecki has stated that Poland, Slovenia and the Czech Republic have prepared a “ten-point plan to support Ukraine”, which proposes to disconnect all Russian banks from SWIFT, exclude the country from all international organizations, suspend visas for Russian citizens and impose sanctions on members of the United Russia political party.

The Polish Sejm has recognized Putin as a war criminal and condemned Russia's war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine.

The Finnish Railways has announced that the Allegro train between St. Petersburg and Helsinki will stop on Monday, March 28. The Allegro train was the only scheduled service between Russia and the EU in the absence of direct flights.

The Japanese government is considering a ban on the supply of premium cars to Russia as a sanction. This was reported by the Kyodo news agency on March 25.

The Australian government has imposed sanctions on 22 Russian propagandists and misinformers, as well as on Lukashenko and members of his family.

ASUS has stopped supplying goods to Russia and promises to donate about a million dollars to Ukraine.

The Marshall Islands is considering excluding Russian ships from its register.

The Clearstream International Central Securities Depository has informed the National Settlement Depository of the Russian Federation about the blocking of its account.

March 25, Switzerland imposed the full range of sanctions against Russia, previously approved by the EU in the fourth package of sanctions.

Switzerland has banned the export of goods to the Russian energy sector and participation in companies operating in this field, providing them with loans or other financial resources. There is also a ban on imports of Russian iron and steel.

Swiss plumbing manufacturer Geberit has ceased operations in Russia.

Kazakhstan is postponing the signing of a digital transformation contract with Russia's Sberbank and is analyzing alternatives, – said the Ministry of Digital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry of Kazakhstan.

Chinese oil company Sinopec has suspended talks with “Sibur” on investing up to $ 500 million in a new gas chemical plant in Russia.

The Chinese government has urged state-owned energy companies not to rush to buy assets in Russia.

World tourism could lose $ 14 billion in case of a prolonged Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, – the UN said.

Jewelry multinational company Tiffany & Co has given up purchasing diamonds mined in Russia.

Audio streaming service Spotify has said it is leaving the Russian market.

Latvia has blacklisted six other Russian cultural figures, including Mikhail Boyarsky.