MOSCOW, January 14. / TASS /. Sanctions against large countries are not as effective as in the case of the US embargo against Cuba, Sberbank CEO German Gref said on Wednesday.

In larger countries, sanctions by international partners lead to consolidation of the society and search for alternative solutions, Gref said at the Gaidar Forum in Moscow.

“Sanctions are a way for governments to calm themselves" that they are doing something, he said.

Sberbank was hit by the EU and US sanctions last summer.