Chronicle of world's economic war against Russia: New as of March 26

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 26.

Economy

The amount of currency trading in Russia fell to the level of 2008 from the end of February, and the ruble became the most volatile currency in the world, surpassing the Turkish lira and the Brazilian real.

After the collapse associated with the beginning of the Russian "special operation" in Ukraine, the ruble has entrenched at the level below 100 per dollar in recent days. During trading on Friday, March 25, the Russian currency strengthened to 92 per dollar — a maximum since March 1, and to 98.11 per euro — for the first time since February 28. Rising of exchange rates following the news about the transfer of payments for gas in rubles is a short-term emotional reaction, experts say. This is due to the fact that today the ruble exchange rate is determined by regulatory processes, not market factors.

French insurance company Axa is suspending new investments in Russian assets and will not reinsure local insurance companies.

The VEB.RF Institute has estimated the impact of sanctions on Russian ciitzens' incomes — they may decrease by 12% by the end of the year.

The largest banking group in the Netherlands, ING Bank, has decided to abandon any new business contacts with any Russian or Belarusian companies around the world.

The Finnish company Wartsila, a leading manufacturer of marine engines, has suspended business with Russia, including training in equipment. Its German competitor MAN Energy Solutions is still reviewing contracts, increasing trade pressure on Moscow.

The Qatari authorities intend to increase the supply of liquefied natural gas to Europe. The country's energy minister said Qatar's and Europe's energy cooperation should be seen solely in the context of commercial relations, not as a "strategic confrontation with Russia."

The German Ministry of Economy intends to halve oil imports from Russia by the summer, and plans to replace oil products from Russia with coal in the autumn.

Sanctions

The list of companies that threaten US national security includes a large Russian manufacturer of anti-virus software — Kaspersky Lab. Now the business in America for this company is very limited.

Canada imposes sanctions on 160 members of the Federation Council of Russia. Also in the coming days, additional sanctions will be imposed on exports of goods and technologies to Russia.

The US presidential administration is preparing sanctions against Russian companies that provide goods and services for military and intelligence services, the WSJ reported. Restrictions may be imposed next week.

The United States promises to punish countries that help Moscow evade sanctions. There are such countries as India, China, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Armenia, the Financial Times reported.

Society

Spotify will stop working in Russia due to the law on fakes for the military. According to the company, it can threaten its employees and listeners.

The social network TikTok forbade users from the Russian Federation to post videos even using VPN. On March 6, it banned Russian users from downloading new content and broadcasting live. For them, only the correspondence function remained available in TikTok.

The premiere of the Russian film "Empire V" based on Victor Pelevin's novel, scheduled for March 31, is postponed indefinitely. This is due to the fact that the tape did not issue a rental certificate.

These days, the World Figure Skating Championships are held without Russians, who are banned from participating in international sports competitions. In response, Russia is holding its own competition this weekend, on March 26 and 27.