Chronicle of world's economic war against Russia: New as of April 4

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 4.

Economy

Annual inflation in Russia accelerated to 15.66% as of March 25 — the highest since September 2015. The growth of prices in the first quarter exceeded inflation for the whole of 2021, when it was 8.39%.

Poland has intensified the inspection of trucks on the way to Belarus. "Border and customs services check every car very carefully. We must be sure that dual-use goods are not transported to them," said the Deputy Interior Minister. According to him, due to a thorough inspection of transport "waiting in line at the border can reach 80 hours."

The EBRD direction has officially banned Russia and Belarus from accessing the bank's resources. This measure was implemented for the first time in the history of this bank.

Promsvyazbank started working in Crimea. This is the first Russian bank to start operating in the sanctioned region. The PSB has nothing to fear: blocking sanctions were imposed on it after the beginning of the war in Ukraine.

About 4 million tons of steel products a year will be redirected by Russian metallurgists from the Europe to the east due to EU sanctions. It is estimated that this will require 17 billion rubles of additional costs per year for changes in logistics.

Wargaming, the developer of World of Tanks, World of Warplanes and World of Warships, has announced its departure from Russia and Belarus. The company has transferred its gaming business in these countries to Lesta Studio company. "The company will not profit from this process today or in the future. On the contrary, we expect significant losses as a result of this decision," the statement said.

Sanctions

The United States is ready to cancel sanctions on Russia to end the conflict in Ukraine, if requested by Kyiv, said State Department Secretary Anthony Blinken. But until that happens, the US government intends to "strengthen and increase" restrictions, he said.

Representatives of the European Union intend to discuss new anti-Russian sanctions on April 6. These will be personal restrictions, a ban on the use of ports, export restrictions and an embargo on energy resources (coal, oil or gas). The Italian government (this country is heavily dependent on Russian gas supplies) does not intend to block possible sanctions against Russian gas supplies, said Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio.

New Zealand has approved sanctions against 36 other Russian citizens, the country's foreign minister said. The list includes "Russian oligarchs or their close relatives" who are closely associated with the Russian government.

The Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida condemned Russia after the publication of photos of killed civilians in Bucha and Irpen. He did not rule out that Japan will join the new anti-Russian sanctions being discussed by Western countries.

Society

Roskomnadzor has blocked the Jooble job search site. The Belarusian version of the site was also restricted. On February 24, Jooble closed access for Russians and Belarusians, and condemned the "military operation" of the Russian army in Ukraine. In total, since the beginning of the war, Roskomnadzor has blocked more than 700 sites.

German authorities plan to expel about 100 Russian embassy staff suspected of espionage. The decision can be made this week. On March 29, four EU countries decided to deport: Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland and the Czech Republic, sending out a total of 43 Russian diplomats.

One of the largest analytical football portals Transfermarkt has left the Russian domain zone (.ru) due to the war in Ukraine. Now he will use the .world domain and talk not only about Russian football, but also about leagues in Europe and countries with a high proportion of Russian-speaking people.

The National Portrait Gallery in London has changed the name of the painting "Russian Dancers" by French Impressionist Edgar Degas. Now it is called "Ukrainian Dancers". As explained in the gallery, the debate over the name of the picture has been going on for many years, because the girls' hair in the picture is woven with yellow and blue ribbons. "We thought it was time to update the title of the painting to better reflect its theme," said a spokesman of the National Gallery. The gallery also noted that they decided to rename the picture after numerous calls from Ukrainian users on social media.

Exceptions to general trend

Volkswagen Group Rus factories located in Kaluga and Nizhny Novgorod may start operating in June-July, media reported. Production at the plants was halted on March 3 due to lack of component caused by sanctions.

China's largest LNG importers, including Sinopec and PetroChina, are in talks with suppliers on unscheduled gas purchases from Russia at significant discounts (about 10%), according to Bloomberg. Some Chinese importers are willing to use Russian companies to participate in tenders for the purchase of LNG and to hide these deals from foreign countries. Traders report that Chinese importers have already bought several consignments of LNG from Russia last week. And Chinese refineries are secretly buying up cheap Russian oil.

Norway resumed issuing non-tourist visas to Russians on April 4. It is planned to start issuing tourist visas in May.