Chronicle of world's economic war against Russia: more and more problems with energy exports

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 14.

Economy

Putin instructed to reorient the export of energy resources from the West to the markets of the South and East and prepare the infrastructure for this.

The increase in the share of settlements in non-reserve currencies, which includes the ruble, is subject to growing interest in mutual trade in goods between countries. This is a slow process, to completely replace the dollar and the euro in the calculations is impossible, said Chairman of the Accounting Chamber of the Russian Federation Alexei Kudrin.

Colombia is ready to increase energy supplies to the EU to replace Russia's energy resources, the president of the country said. According to him, Colombia can increase oil and gas production, as well as supply coal and "green" hydrogen.

The largest commodity traders plan to cut purchases of Russian oil and fuel from May 15 due to EU sanctions. Although European sanctions have not affected oil purchases from Russia, traders are cutting them so as not to violate another requirement of EU sanctions — to limit Moscow's access to the international financial system.

British Reckitt Benckiser (brands Nurofen, Strepsils, Durex and Vanish) is finally leaving Russia. The company has announced that it is beginning the process of transferring assets to a "third party".

Billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov, who was sanctioned for the first time, handed over a 10% stake in AFK Sistema to his son. The company stated that it has the resources to operate stably, but cannot prevent adverse effects on future operations and financial performance.

Italian Lavazza Group suspends operations in Russia. The company owns the eponymous coffee brand and brands Carte Noire, Merrild and Kicking Horse.

The growth rate of Russia's trade with China in March was lower than in February. However, trade is growing faster than China's foreign trade as a whole.

The Russian container market expects a serious shortage of containers after international operators who left Russia complete the evacuation of their park. It is necessary to replace from 200 to 300 thousand containers. In Russia, it is possible to produce a little more than 10 thousand a year, and to buy them in China will take up to $ 1.4 billion.

Sanctions

Switzerland has imposed a fifth package of sanctions against Russia and Belarus. The country joined similar restrictions by the EU, including sanctions against billionaires and Putin's daughters. The EU is already preparing a sixth set of sanctions.

The Jersey court has decided to freeze assets that may relate to Roman Abramovich, totaling more than $ 7 billion. Island police have received a warrant to search the premises, which may be related to the activities of a Russian businessman.

French authorities have frozen more than 40 properties related to people affected by the sanctions, including Abramovich. Among other things, there is the villa "Chateau de la Croix" on the French Riviera, which was frozen. British King Edward VIII lived there after his abdication. Abramovich bought it in 2009.

The European Union has closed the loophole in the sanctions regime against Russia, which has allowed both sides to trade in weapons since 2014. However, sanctions left it possible for EU countries to send Soviet and Russian military equipment to Russia for repair.

Australian authorities have included 14 new Russian legal entities in the list of sanctions. Sanctions included: RZ, Gazprom, Alrosa, USC, Transneft, Rostelecom, RusHydro and others.

Russian oligarch Suleiman Kerimov's Amadea yacht was arrested in the port of Fiji.

Hamburg authorities have confiscated a 156-meter yacht Dilbar worth about $ 600 million, which is registered to the sister of Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who is also under Western sanctions.

Society

The American company Monotype, the owner of the rights to the popular fonts Times New Roman, Arial, Verdana, Tahoma and Helvetica, has blocked access from Russia to the font catalog on its website. This is not yet a ban on the use of fonts by Russian users, but it is possible in the future.

Gin has been one of the leaders in retail sales in Russia since mid-March. It was bought 1.5 times more than last year. Experts attributed the increase in gin purchases to Russian savings in bar visits.

Following the Chanel brand, Celine stores stop selling bags and clothes to Russian citizens. A seller who violates the ban will be fired.

The developer of computer games EA Sports has released an update to the football game FIFA 22. Russian clubs and the national team of the country, as well as the stadium "Otkrytie Bank Arena", where Spartak Moscow hosts home matches, have been removed from the game. If the user previously chose the Russian team as a favorite club, now it will be automatically replaced by the French "Paris Saint-Germain".