MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/. Head of the Center for Strategic Research (CSR), Russia’s former finance minister, Alexey Kudrin, thinks that Russia underestimates the new package of sanctions imposed by the United States.

"We in Russia underestimate the new blacklist published (by the US) three or four days ago. This is a completely new list of tougher sanctions," he said Tuesday.

"Now any company in the world will be blacklisted if it has operations with Russian companies [from the sanctions list - TASS]. They [the United States] threaten companies of other countries," Kudrin said, adding that Russian experts are now analyzing the potential effect of those sanctions.

According to ex-minister, the country will be forced to widen the use of the national currency in payments. "This sanctions story creates huge risks for transactions in more stable currencies. This will trigger the use of the ruble even if it turns out more expensive," he said.

The US Department of State earlier announced that it had endorsed a new list of restrictive measures and companies that could be sanctioned. The document has been forwarded to the US Congress. The list includes Russian defense sector enterprises, such as Kalashnikov Concern, Russian Technologies State Corporation (Rostec), Admiratly Shipyard, Almaz-Antey Air and Space Defense Corporation, Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, Izhmash Concern, Rosoboronexport and others.