Chronicle of world's economic war against Russia: New as of March 23

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 March 23.

Economy

Putin demanded from Gazprom to switch the payment for gas supplied to "unfriendly countries" to the ruble. This will directly affect European countries. Now they will have to buy rubles in Russia to pay for supplies.

Russian Railways has received a notice from German Siemens about terminating its contract to purchase new high-speed Sapsan trains. Maintenance of trains which Russia already has will be continued.

The French bank Crédit Agricole has completely ceased operations in Russia.

French Total has decided to completely abandon oil and oil products from Russia by the end of the year.

The European organization of satellite meteorology EUMETSAT stops sharing meteorological data with Russia. Earlier, three similar organizations refused to cooperate with the country.

The Japanese company Sharp stops supplying products to Russia.

Vietnam Airlines will temporarily suspend flights from Hanoi to Moscow from March 25. The decision was made due to the need to review the procedures of aircraft insurance.

In the chains of clothing stores of a number of brands in Russia, prices rose by 80%. Both old and new collections became more expensive. In shoe chains, prices have doubled.

After February 24 in Russia began a dramatic fall in consumer loans. The number of borrowers' applications has halved, disbursements have fallen by 60-75%. Customers are not ready to take loans at high rates (from 20%), and banks are tightening risk policy considering the unstable income situation of people.

The Minister of Economic Development of Finland stated that the issuance of a license for the construction of Hanhikivi-1 NPP in Finland with the participation of Russian Rosatom is impossible. According to the Minister, the decision to continue the project or change the supplier is made by its owners, but the state will intervene at the stage of consideration of the application for a license.

Residents of the Russian Federation — owners of Russian Eurobonds cannot receive payments for them. They are "stuck" in the European depositories Euroclear and Clearstream. Earlier, these companies stated they would stop paying for transactions for Russian counterparties.

According to industry associations, up to 70,000 IT specialists have already left Russia, and another 100,000 will leave in April. Only expensive tickets and housing are holding back the "second wave" of emigration.

The head of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation stated that a marketplace with domestic applications for the Android system will be created in Russia.

Duty-free shops at airports have asked the government for help. They claim to be in critical condition due to a sharp drop in international passenger traffic.

The Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation will check the producers of office paper due to the sharp rise in prices for it. Since mid-March, prices have risen almost sixfold.

Nestle has decided to produce and sell in Russia only basic necessities: baby, medical and hospital food. Production and sales of other products will stop while Russia's "operation" in Ukraine continues, the company said. Earlier, they warned retail chains about raising prices by 20-40%.

Sanctions

The new US sanctions will cover 400 Russians, including 328 State Duma deputies. President Biden intends to announce them this week in coordination with the European Union and G7 members.

The planes of at least eight billionaires from Russia lost their registration on the Isle of Man after the start of the "Special operation" in Ukraine. Problems arose not only with those who appeared under sanctions, but also with those who were not affected by the sanctions. The Isle of Man is one of the most popular jurisdictions for private jets.

Society

In March, Russian Internet traffic was significantly redistributed. On torrent trackers, it increased by 21%, and on digital video game distribution platforms it decreased by almost 30%.

Eldar Ryazanov's film "Office Romance" is being re-released in the cinemas of the Russian Federation.

In Russia, the number of cyber attacks on company employees has doubled. They receive malicious e-mails related to the situation in Ukraine and the crisis in the Russian economy.

In Russia, the demand for safes, ammunition and weapons has risen sharply. This trend is associated with an increase in cash among the population, expectations of further price increases and the general news background.