New round of US sanctions to trigger new shocks to Russian economy— Audit Chamber chief
Alexei Kudrin stressed that the sanctions have already "substantially influenced not only the market, but investor sentiment as well"
MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/. Another round of US sanctions that can be potentially imposed against Russia, will trigger new shocks to the economy and require more adjustment efforts, Head of Russia’s Audit Chamber Alexei Kudrin told reporters on Tuesday.
"The sanctions that have already been imposed, have been absorbed by the economy as enterprises have adjusted to them. Unfortunately, any new sanctions will trigger new shocks and require new adjustment efforts," he said, adding that potentially new sanctions "might be stricter" than those in force.
Kudrin emphasized that anti-Russia sanctions have taken their toll. "Unfortunately, last year’s sanctions against companies of the holding of Deripaska and Vekselberg have substantially influenced not only the market, but investor sentiment as well. That was not a shocking impact, but we fall short in terms of investment and economic growth. It is more difficult to meet the targets we set regarding raising growth rates above the global average," he explained.
The US Treasury Department slapped sanctions against a number of Russian officials, businessmen and companies on April 6, 2018. The blacklist included businessmen Oleg Deripaska, Vladimir Bogdanov, Suleiman Kerimov, Igor Rotenberg, Kirill Shamalov, Viktor Vekselberg. Restrictions were imposed against Rusal and En+ controlled by Deripaska, Basic Element, Russian Machines Holding, B-Finance investment company, Eurosibenergo, GAZ Group and Agroholding Kuban. The list also included Vekselberg’s Renova, Shamalov’s Ladoga Management, and Rotenberg's NPV Engineering Group and Gazprom Drilling.
The restrictions imply that the US assets of those companies were frozen. They also ban American citizens from doing any business with those companies.
On February 12, a group of US legislators put forward a bill, which stipulates another round of restrictions against Moscow. The legislators suggest restrictions on transactions with Russian sovereign bonds, as well as sanctions against energy projects by Russian state companies abroad and certain banks.