Chronicle of world's economic war against Russia: "Love and Doves" are back

Author

Valery Moiseev

After the attack on Ukraine, Russia faced economic problems and sanctions from many countries and international organizations. In Russia itself, the authorities call it an economic war. has prepared a selection of the latest reports on April 13.

Economy

The fall of the Russian economy due to sanctions has already begun and is up to 11%, said Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Bilousov. According to him, Western countries seek to organize a "global blockade" of Russia, which consists of four "rings": financial, trade, transport and humanitarian.

The initial stage of development of the Russian economy under sanctions will take two years, but the full transition to import substitution will take many years, said the head of the Accounting Chamber of the Russian Federation Kudrin.

The real effective exchange rate of the ruble to currencies of Russia's main trading partners fell in March by 17.5% compared to February, the Central Bank estimated. Compared to December 2021, the decline exceeded 20%.

The Central Bank raised its estimate of inflation in March by 3 percent to 9.52%. This is the most noticeable increase since the beginning of the calculation of this indicator in 2015. The sharp rise in the assessment "indicates a significant increase in prices for a wide range of consumer goods and services, caused by changes in external conditions and a surge in consumer demand."

Hungary will continue to pay for Russian gas imports in euros, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said.

The German group OBI sold the Russian business to a local investor.

S&P Agency downgraded Petropavlovsk's credit rating to a "selective default" and revoked it. The reason was non-payment of interest on a loan from Gazprombank. The company, registered in the UK, said it could not settle with the bank because it was under British sanctions.

Online stores abroad have begun blocking payments with Chinese UnionPay cards issued in Russia. Experts explain this by reinsurance — sellers do not want to understand whether the issuing bank is under sanctions, but simply block the whole country.

The deficit of coated paper in Russia, caused by EU sanctions, will be 40%. Such paper is used for printing and is mostly imported from abroad, and Europe accounts for 70% of deliveries. Authorities are advising publishers to buy Chinese paper, but this will lead to a twofold increase in prices, according to the market.

Printing houses complained about the shortage of inks due to sanctions and the refusal of Western companies to work in Russia. Book prices may increase by 25-30%.

One of the world's largest oil traders, Vitol Group, plans to stop trading in oil and oil products from Russia by the end of 2022.

In Russia, more than 150,000 railway cars are idle due to sanctions.

The drop in oil production in Russia in April will be 1.5 million barrels per day, in May — 3 million due to anti-Russian sanctions, according to the MEA.

Sanctions

The European Union has renewed sanctions regulations. Now Russian businessmen who have been restricted have the opportunity to transfer their shares in European business to new owners. Russians can sell ownership of EU-registered companies until October 9.

The British authorities have updated the lists of sanctions related to Russia, they included more than 200 individuals. It is about freezing assets and banning travel to the UK.

Society

According to a poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, 37% of Russians consider themselves "probably happy." Researchers note that over the past 30 years, the happiness index in Russia has increased 11 times, and the proportion of happy people — twice.

Russian Netflix users have filed a lawsuit against the company for 60 million rubles. They believe that by refusing to unilaterally provide services in their country, the platform violated the consumer rights of subscribers.

The Soviet lyrical comedy "Love and Doves", shot in 1984, will be re-released on April 21. Such measures are due to the fact that foreign film companies ban the rental of their films in Russia.