SYDNEY, November 21. /TASS/. The authorities of New Zealand have imposed sanctions against 22 Russian and Belarusian individuals, as well as a number of enterprises in the oil and gas and steel sectors, the country’s Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said on Monday.
Another package of New Zealand’s sanctions has been introduced against 22 Russian and Belarusian citizens that the country’s authorities believe support the special operation in Ukraine, according to the minister.
New sanctions have been slapped on Russian citizens Maria Vorontsova and Katerina Tikhonova, the wife and children of the spokesman for the Russian president Dmitry Peskov, Central Bank Governor Elvira Nabiullina, as well as the wife and son of the Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, according to a statement by the minister published on the country’s government website. Some Russian businessmen and entrepreneurs have also been blacklisted.
Moreover, restrictions have been taken against Russian enterprises having economic or strategic importance for Russia in the oil and gas, steel and transport sectors and in the area of the production of radar and electronic equipment.
So far, New Zealand has imposed sanctions banning asset transactions and entry to the territory against more than 1,200 Russian and Belarusian citizens. Tight economic restrictions have also been introduced, as a result of which bilateral trade between Moscow and Wellington has almost stopped.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation based on a request from the heads of the Donbass republics. In response, the West imposed major sanctions on Russia, as well as boosted the arms supplies to Kiev, whose total value is currently estimated at billions of dollars.