In 2018, the Russian economy will continue to bear the brunt of sanctions, the main initiator of which will again be the United States. Some more items have been added to the list of prohibitive measures against Russia, which began to operate on January 29. And yet, the talk about the advisability of their introduction does not cease to subside. Even the US Treasury Department said that such actions could negatively affect not only the Russian, but also the American position. So what does the package of documents released by the Congressmen of the Capitol say?

This time, the elected representatives of the people, sitting in Washington, decided to walk through the elite of the Russian Federation. If earlier restrictions affected them only indirectly, mostly hitting the ordinary population (for example, the suspension of export-import relations led to a natural increase in food prices, etc.), now the country's main persons will have to experience some hardships on themselves.

This is what the “Kremlin report” is hinting at – a recently published list of 210 individuals (114 well-known officials and heads of state corporations and 96 oligarchs, whose fortune is estimated at $ 1 billion or more). In addition to many specific deputies, ministers, speakers, heads of intelligence agencies, directors of large companies and representatives of the presidential administration, such high-ranking people are mentioned there as:

• Dmitry Peskov (press secretary of V.V. Putin);
• Dmitry Medvedev (Prime Minister);
• Sergei Shoigu (general of the army and head of the Ministry of Defense);
• Igor Sechin (executive director of the oil and gas organization Rosneft);
• German Gref (head of Sberbank) and many others.

Among businessmen, Americans turned their attention to Roman Abramovich (entrepreneur, billionaire and former governor of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug), Alisher Usmanov (founder of USM Holdings and a man whose financial savings were estimated by Bloomberg at $ 20 billion), Boris Rotenberg (Member of the Board of Directors of SMP Bank and Vice President of the Judo Federation in the country) and others.

Although the US Treasury Department has stressed that these individuals will not be subject to any additional bans beyond those that have already been adopted, some economic and political experts believe the exact opposite. Representatives of the state agency assured the media and the public that such a list was created and published "exclusively at the request of the CAATSA law," which means that it allegedly does not indicate that the authorities have information about the illegal activities of these people and does not call on American citizens to immediately refuse to conduct them partnership affairs. And yet it is clear that the document was not born by chance. It is quite possible that in the future the foreign property of members from the “black list” will be arrested, accounts will be frozen, entry will be prohibited, etc.

New sanctions 4 strikes on Russia

March 2, 2018 Donald Trump signed a decree extending the sanctions against the Russian Federation, introduced in 2014, for another 1 year. In addition to the restrictions that took place last year, new sanctions can be expected in 2018. The United States plans to act in 4 directions:

• The introduction of sanctions against citizens who buy the sovereign debt of the Russian Federation. Such a move would bring not only serious problems for the Russians themselves, but also to scare away foreign investors or lead to a significant outflow of foreign capital.
• New sanctions against the oligarchs, which will now affect not only the influential politicians themselves and their capital, but also affect people close to those on the list, namely: children and relatives, company employees.
• Imposition of sanctions on persons held responsible for human rights violations.
• Sanctions against the defense sector, which may affect companies involved in the development of modern technologies and the production of military goods.

Thus, we can expect that the list of Russians affected by Western sanctions will expand significantly, and the oligarchs will lose not only the opportunity to keep their assets outside the country and relax at their favorite resorts, but also will not be able to educate children in highly rated universities.

Collaboration: minimizing

If we talk about international partnerships between companies, then here the situation takes more distinct and definite forms. The list of US sanctions against Russia in 2018 provides for an even more tangible and significant reduction in economic relations in the intelligence and defense sphere. Also henceforth:

• Americans will be prohibited from providing new technologies, projects, ideas and developments to those firms that are under restrictions. All organizations that provide assistance or financial support to companies and people who are already subject to bans will fall under a tough regulatory mechanism.
• Measures of economic coercion can be imposed on enterprises belonging to Russia, but based outside its territory, and specializing, in particular, in transport, metallurgy, railway construction and mining, i.e. in major industries.
• If the President of America receives information from the Treasury about the involvement of individuals in corrupt and fraudulent schemes, he will be able to bring individual sanctions against them.

• Neither the President of the United States, nor even the President of the Russian Federation, will have the right to unilaterally remove any restrictions. Acting as a kind of world gendarme, the Congress reserves this privilege exclusively for itself. Decision-making assistance should be provided by the Treasury and Commerce Department in cooperation with the State Department.
• It will be impossible to invest more than 10 million dollars in the assets of the Russian Federation. Otherwise, it will be considered as a desire to illegally enrich the Government of the country.
• Sanctions will be imposed on any subjects who are caught involved in malicious cyber attacks, sponsoring hacking or espionage in the interests of Russia, and these can be both citizens of the Russian Federation, and, in principle, any foreigners, and residents of the States themselves.

Mutual expulsions of diplomats (April 2018)

UK and Russia

After the scandal that erupted around the poisoning of former GRU officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter, 23 Russian diplomats were expelled from the UK. In response to this step, the Russian government decided to introduce symmetrical sanctions.

USA and Russia

In March 2018, the Russian Consulate General in Seattle was closed and 60 Russian diplomats were expelled from the United States. Moreover, the list includes not only employees of the consulate, but also representatives of the Russian Federation to the UN. The official reason is the difficult situation that has developed around the poisoning in Salisbury.

Commenting on the situation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that retaliatory measures would be taken as soon as possible. Already in March, the government withdrew the work permit of the US Consulate General in St. Petersburg and expelled 60 American diplomats from Russia, giving them until 04/05/18 to leave the territory of the Russian Federation. The official reason is activities that are incompatible with the status of a diplomat.

Experts say that a difficult period is beginning in relations with the United States and Europe, and the fault for such an unfavorable development of events lies with the American side.

Personal sanctions (April 2018 list)

The West began to translate the promised threats into reality. The first step was the announcement of a new (additional) list of individuals and companies that were sanctioned.

In 2018, the following were affected:

• 14 Russian companies;
• 24 Russians of which 8 oligarchs and 16 officials;
• 2 Mexican entrepreneurs doing business in Russia.

Of course, personal sanctions against politicians and oligarchs are no longer news. You can even say that they are somewhat formal, because the assets of these people have long been transferred to Russian banks. More worrisome is the fact that the list includes large Russian companies, among which the Kuban agricultural holding and the Rusal company owned by Oleg Deripaska.

For the largest domestic grain exporter and aluminum producer, the imposed sanctions are more than a serious test, because according to the new document signed by Trump, problems are guaranteed not only for the enterprises themselves, but also for all those who decide to purchase the products they sell.

Also on the list of companies were Rosoboronexport, which suggests the desire of the West to oust the Russian Federation from the global arms market.

Thus, the list of sanctions in 2018 will be directed not so much against the Russian Federation itself, but against its potential external partners, who could still remain after the release of all previous packages.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with complete list US sanctions against Russia (document in English):

US State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said that the bans that have been in place on America's political opponent so far have proved to be more than successful, so there is no particular need to introduce tough measures yet. According to the diplomat, the previous provisions adopted under the laws "On Supporting Sovereignty, Integrity, Democracy and Economic Stability in Ukraine", "On Supporting the Freedom of Ukraine" and "On Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions" (the same "Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions" Act, CAATSA), justify themselves as "excellent". For example, the Russian military-industrial complex has already experienced their severity after several foreign governments refused to purchase defense technologies totaling several billion dollars.

Is everything so rosy for the Americans themselves?

However, together with all of the above, the US Department of the Treasury could not fail to notice one objective fact - if strong pressure on Russia continues, this can lead not only to destabilize its economy and increase the burden on the domestic banking sector, but also to destructive processes in the States.

This state of affairs follows from the role of the Russian Federation in the global political and economic arena and the number of assets it owns - if these parameters are not taken into account and the consequences are not correctly calculated, the result will be extremely large-scale and even catastrophic. Negative effects can go far beyond Russia and spread to the leaders themselves - European and American businesses and their markets, companies and investors.

By the way, about Europe, the United States also needs to enlist its support in order to fully implement the policy in the chosen direction. Without European partners, the influence of the United States will no longer be so significant. So, if we compare countries in terms of Russian treasury holdings, it turns out that in the third quarter of 2017, America accounted for only $200 million, compared to $400 million for the UK, $600 million for Italy, and $700 million for France.

While Washington does not yet plan to carry out an independent attack on the Russian public debt and attempt to put pressure on the ruble exchange rate, nevertheless, discussions about various coercive measures continue to be quite active. What will come of this, and how Moscow will react to it, time will tell.

Video about the Kremlin report:

The United States, which does not agree with Russia's actions during the Ukrainian crisis, has imposed sanctions on high-ranking Russian politicians. The restrictions include, in particular, a ban on entry into the United States and the blocking of assets and property. The list includes 11 people, including Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matvienko, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, presidential aide Vladislav Surkov, presidential adviser Sergei Glazyev, State Duma deputies Elena Mizulina and Leonid Slutsky, and senator Andrey Klishas. The United States also imposed sanctions against Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov and Chairman of the Crimean Parliament Vladimir Konstantinov.

EU foreign ministers have agreed to impose sanctions on Russian and Ukrainian officials whom they consider guilty of "undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine." The list of officials against whom the EU imposed sanctions included State Duma deputies Leonid Slutsky, Sergey Mironov, Sergey Zheleznyak, senators Andrey Klishas, ​​Viktor Ozerov, Nikolai Ryzhkov, Vladimir Dzhabarov, Evgeny Bushmin, Alexander Totoonov, Oleg Panteleev, commanders of the southern and western military districts of Colonel General Alexander Galkin and Colonel General Anatoly Sidorov, as well as the commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Vice Admiral Alexander Vitko. Sanctions were also imposed on Prime Minister of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic Rustam Temirgaliev, Speaker of the State Council of Crimea Vladimir Konstantinov, Vice Speaker of the State Council of Crimea Sergei Tsekov, Advisor to the Speaker of the State Council of Crimea Yuri Zherebtsov, Mayor of Sevastopol Alexei Chaly, head of the Crimean Service the security of Petr Zima and the former commander of the Ukrainian Navy, Rear Admiral Denys Berezovsky. There are 21 people on the list in total.

Canadian authorities have introduced economic sanctions and visa restrictions for 10 high-ranking representatives of Russia and Crimea. The list includes Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, Prime Minister of Crimea Sergei Aksenov, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation Sergei Glazyev, Assistant to the Head of State Vladislav Surkov, Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko and Senator Andrei Klishas, ​​as well as deputies Elena Mizulina and Leonid Slutsky and Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea Vladimir Konstantinov.

The American list was supplemented with the names of 19 more Russian officials, parliamentarians and businessmen. The list includes presidential aide Andrei Fursenko, head of the presidential administration Sergei Ivanov and his first deputy Alexei Gromov, leader of the Just Russia party Sergei Mironov, State Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin, head of the GRU Igor Sergun, head of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin and director of the Federal Drug Control Service Viktor Ivanov . Sanctions were also imposed on Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Sergei Zheleznyak and Presidential Affairs Manager Vladimir Kozhin, entrepreneurs Yuri Kovalchuk, Arkady and Boris Rotenberg and Gennady Timchenko. In addition, the list includes members of the Federation Council Yevgeny Bushmin, Vladimir Dzhabarov, Viktor Ozerov, Oleg Panteleev, Nikolai Ryzhkov and Alexander Totoonov. Sanctions were also imposed against the bank JSC AB Rossiya. The US Treasury explained the inclusion of Russian businessmen in the sanctions list by the fact that they are all persons close to the President of Russia.

On March 21, EU leaders decided to move to the second level of sanctions against Russia "in view of the severity of the situation in Ukraine." The extended list includes 12 more citizens of Russia and Ukraine, including Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, presidential adviser Sergei Glazyev, Federation Council Chairman Valentina Matvienko. In addition, the list includes State Duma speaker Sergei Naryshkin, deputy Elena Mizulina, presidential aide Vladislav Surkov, and director general of the Rossiya Segodnya international news agency Dmitry Kiselev. The list also includes Rear Admiral Alexander Nosatov, First Deputy Commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Rear Admiral Valery Kulikov, Deputy Commander of the Black Sea Fleet, Mikhail Malyshev, head of the Crimean Central Election Commission, Valery Medvedev, head of the Sevastopol Electoral Commission, and Lieutenant General Igor Turchenyuk, deputy head of the Southern Military District.

On March 21, Canada added 14 more Russian officials to its sanctions list in connection with the events in Ukraine, as well as Rossiya Bank.

Swiss authorities have restricted financial transactions for 33 Russian officials included in the EU sanctions list.

The United States imposed sanctions on the Crimean company Chernomorneftegaz and Crimean officials. Mayor of Sevastopol Oleksiy Chaly, First Deputy Prime Minister of Crimea Rustam Temirgaliev, heads of the Crimean and Sevastopol electoral committees Mikhail Malyshev and Valery Medvedev, adviser to the Speaker of the State Council of Crimea Yuriy Zherebtsov, ex-head of the Crimean department of the Security Service of Ukraine Petr Zima and a member of the Russian Federation Council from Crimea were subjected to sanctions Sergei Tsekov.

Montenegro, Iceland, Albania, Norway and Ukraine joined the individual EU sanctions adopted on March 17 and extended on March 21.

On April 12, Canada imposed sanctions on the head of the Sevastopol election commission, Valery Medvedev, and his colleague from the Crimean election commission, Mikhail Malyshev, as well as on the Chernomorneftegaz oil and gas company.

On April 28, the US authorities again expanded the sanctions list to include seven more Russian citizens and 17 companies. White House press secretary Jay Carney explained this by saying that Russia "did nothing to comply with the Geneva obligations." Carney also accused Moscow of involvement in the violence in eastern Ukraine. The sanctions affected Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, the head of Rosneft Igor Sechin, and the first deputy head of the Kremlin administration Vyacheslav Volodin. The list also includes presidential envoy to the CFD Oleg Belaventsev, head of the FSO Yevgeny Murov, head of Rostec Sergey Chemezov and head of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Alexei Pushkov.

On the same day, April 28, the decision to expand the sanctions list was made by the European Union, and on April 29 the names of those on the list were published. The EU expanded the sanctions list by another 15 people. It included Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the GRU Igor Sergun, Permanent Representative of the President of Russia in Crimea Oleg Belaventsev, Head of the Ministry for Crimean Affairs Oleg Savelyev, State Duma Vice Speaker Lyudmila Shvetsova, State Duma Vice Speaker Sergei Neverov , Acting Governor of Sevastopol Sergey Menyailo, Senator in the Federation Council from Crimea and Sevastopol Olga Kovatidi, representative of the Luhansk militia German Prokopiev, People's Governor of the Lugansk region Valery Bolotov, leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic Andrey Purgin and Denis Pushilin, Deputy Head of the Donbass People's Militia Sergey Tsyplakov, leader People's Defense of Donbass in Slavyansk Igor Strelkov.

Canada's sanctions list includes State Duma deputies Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Alexei Pushkov, First Deputy Head of the Kremlin Administration Vyacheslav Volodin, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, member of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Alexander Babakov, presidential envoy to the Crimean Federal District Oleg Belaventsev, head of the FSO Yevgeny Murov , as well as the Rotenberg brothers. The list of companies includes Expobank and Rosenergobank.

Japan imposed additional sanctions against 23 government officials of the Russian Federation who could be involved in the violation of the sovereignty of Ukraine. The names of the officials were not released.

The Swiss authorities have expanded the list of persons subject to financial restrictions by 15 people in response to the expanded list of the EU.

The Prime Minister of Canada said that sanctions are being imposed against 16 Russian "subjects" and apply to the following Russian banks and legal entities: InvestCapitalBank, Sobinbank, Northern Sea Route Bank, Aquanika, LLC Avia Group, LLC Avia Nord Group, ZEST CJSC, Sakhatrans LLC, Stroygazmontazh LLC, Abros Investment Company LLC, Volga Group, Stroytransgaz Holding and its four subsidiaries.

The EU Foreign Affairs Council has included 13 more people on the list of EU sanctions against those responsible, in its opinion, for destabilizing the situation in Ukraine. The list includes the first deputy head of the Kremlin administration Vyacheslav Volodin, the commander of the Airborne Forces Colonel-General of Russia Vladimir Shamanov and the head of the State Duma Committee on constitutional legislation and state building Vladimir Pligin. In addition, Crimean prosecutor Natalya Poklonskaya, Sevastopol prosecutor Igor Shevchenko, acting. Head of the Federal Migration Service of Russia for the Republic of Crimea Petr Yarosh, acting Head of the Sevastopol Migration Service Oleg Kozyur. The EU also decided to freeze the assets of two companies from Sevastopol and Crimea - Feodosia and Chernomorneftegaz.

Canadian authorities have announced additional sanctions against six Russian citizens and six Ukrainian supporters of federalization. The list of sanctions from the Russian side included: Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov, Commander of the Armed Forces of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic Igor Girkin (Strelkov), Acting Governor of Sevastopol Sergei Menyailo, Vice Speakers of the State Duma Sergei Neverov and Lyudmila Shvetsova, Russian Minister for Crimean Affairs Oleg Savelyev, 1st member of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation from the executive branch of the Republic of Crimea Olga Kovatidi.

The Swiss authorities have expanded the list of persons subject to financial and visa restrictions by 13 people in response to the expanded list of the EU.

Montenegro, Iceland, Albania, Liechtenstein and Norway have joined the implementation of the new EU sanctions lists.

Australia has imposed financial sanctions against 50 Russians and 11 companies because of the situation in Ukraine. Earlier, in March, the Australian authorities announced imminent sanctions against 12 Russian and Ukrainian officials. The Australian government has decided to extend sanctions to 38 more individuals and impose restrictions on 11 companies. The names of those included in the "black lists" were not indicated then.

Regarding Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation Sergei Glazyev, Head of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko, Senator Andrei Klishas, ​​State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin, Deputies Elena Mizulina and Alexei Pushkov, Deputy Prime Ministers Dmitry Rogozin and Dmitry Kozak, aides to the President of the Russian Federation Vladislav Surkov, Vladimir Kozhin and Andrei Fursenko, the head of the presidential administration of the Russian Federation Sergey Ivanov, the first deputy head of the Kremlin administration Vyacheslav Volodin and Alexei Gromov, acting. Head of Crimea Sergey Aksenov, businessmen Yuri Kovalchuk, Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, Gennady Timchenko, head of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin, as well as a number of leaders of the unrecognized DPR and LPR. The list also includes the Bank of Russia, InvestCapitalBank, SMP Bank, Stroygazmontazh LLC, Avia Group Nord LLC, Stroytransgaz Group, Volga Group, Chernomorneftegaz, as well as other companies and individuals.

Canada has imposed additional economic sanctions and a ban on entry into the country for 11 citizens of the Russian Federation.

Washington synchronized its sanctions list with the European one. The United States imposed visa and financial restrictions on the vice speaker of the Russian State Duma, Sergei Neverov, federal minister on Crimean Affairs Oleg Savelyev, as well as the Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk Republic Alexander Borodai, who previously fell under EU sanctions. on the entire Donetsk and Lugansk republics and on the assistant to the President of Russia Igor Shchegolev. The US authorities have also imposed sanctions on a number of Russian defense and commodity companies. The sanctions list includes Almaz-Antey Concern, Uralvagonzavod, NPO Mashinostroeniya and several structures of Rostec: Kalashnikov Concerns (former Izhmash), Constellation, Radioelectronic Technologies (KRET), Bazalt and Konstruktorskoe instrumentation bureau. The largest Russian oil company Rosneft and Russia's largest independent gas producer Novatek, the oil terminal of Feodosia, as well as the Russian development bank Vnesheconombank and one of the country's largest commercial banks Gazprombank were under sanctions. Sanctions against Russian banks do not involve freezing assets, but a ban on receiving US loans for more than 90 days.

At their summit on July 16, they limited themselves to agreeing to expand the criteria for sanctions and only by the end of July to draw up a list of companies and individuals, including Russian ones, that will fall under targeted restrictive measures of the European Union.

Canada, following the United States, included a number of Russian defense and raw materials companies and banks in its sanctions list. Sanctions fell, in particular, on Gazprombank, Vnesheconombank and Russia's second-largest gas producer Novatek. The Canadian prime minister explained that the sanctions involve the cessation of lending to energy companies and financial institutions that were blacklisted.

15 names and 18 entities have been added to the EU sanctions list. Among them are FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Mikhail Fradkov, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev, head Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov, Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council Rashid Nurgaliyev, Security Council member Boris Gryzlov, FSB officer Sergei Beseda and State Duma deputy Mikhail Degtyarev. Among the companies are "Kerch Ferry", "Sevastopol Commercial Sea Port", "Kerch Commercial Sea Port", the state enterprise "Universal-Avia", the sanatorium "Nizhnyaya Oreanda", "Azov Distillery", the national agricultural production association "Massandra" , agricultural firm "Magarach" and the factory of sparkling wines "New World".

The US Treasury announced the imposition of sanctions against the Bank of Moscow, VTB and Rosselkhozbank, as well as the United Shipbuilding Corporation of the Russian Federation.

The EU has introduced new economic sanctions against Russia. The European Union has restricted access to the EU capital markets for Russian state-owned banks. These are Sberbank, VTB, Gazprombank, Rosselkhozbank, and the state corporation Vnesheconombank, which are among the five largest credit institutions in the Russian Federation. , which cannot be exported for a number of projects in the Russian oil industry. It consists of 30 items, it includes, among other things, some types of pipes and drilling equipment. The restrictions included new contracts for the import and export of arms from the Russian Federation and for the sale of dual-use goods to Russia for the defense sector.

The sanctions list includes the Russian defense concern Almaz-Antey, the low-cost Dobrolet airline flying to Crimea, and the Russian National Commercial Bank. The list includes Alexei Gromov, First Deputy Head of the Presidential Administration of Russia, four Russian businessmen — Rossiya Bank shareholders Yuri Kovalchuk and Nikolai Shamalov, businessmen Arkady Rotenberg and Konstantin Malofeev, as well as two representatives of self-proclaimed people's republics in eastern Ukraine. Restrictions on investments in Crimea have been approved.

The Swiss government has expanded the sanctions list in connection with Russia's position on Ukraine and added 26 citizens of Russia and Ukraine and 18 companies to it. The list, in particular, includes: Prime Minister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Alexander Borodai, Director of the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Mikhail Fradkov, Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Nikolai Patrushev and Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov.

On the same day, it approved additional sanctions against 40 individuals and the Crimean companies Chernomorneftegaz and Feodosiya. Japan froze the assets of former President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, Acting Head of the Republic of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov, Chairman of the State Council of the Republic Vladimir Konstantinov, former Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Crimea Rustam Temirgaliev, Deputy Commander of the Black Sea Fleet Denis Berezovsky, ex-Governor of Sevastopol Alexei Chaly, ex-head of the service security of Sevastopol Petr Zima, adviser to the speaker of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea Yuri Zherebtsov, senators from the Republic of Crimea Sergei Tsekov and Olga Kovitidi, head of the Republican Central Electoral Commission Mikhail Malyshev, head of the election commission of Sevastopol Valery Medvedev, governor of Sevastopol Sergei Menyailo.

Head of the Federal Migration Service of Russia for the Republic of Crimea Petr Yarosh, head of the Sevastopol department of the FMS Oleg Kozhura, Crimean prosecutor Natalya Poklonskaya, Sevastopol prosecutor Igor Shevchenko. The sanctions list also included the commander of the self-defense forces of the proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Igor Strelkov (Girkin), the ataman of the All-Great Don Army, Nikolai Kozitsyn.

Canada has expanded its sanctions list against Russia to include 19 citizens of Russia and Ukraine, as well as five Russian banks. Among the Russian banks included in the list: Bank of Moscow, Rosselkhozbank, Russian National Commercial Bank and VTB Bank. A number of Russian security officials fell under the Canadian sanctions, in particular, FSB Director Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Mikhail Fradkov, member of the Security Council of the Russian Federation Boris Gryzlov, Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, head of the 5th Directorate of the FSB Sergey Beseda, head of the border service of the FSB of the Russian Federation Vladimir Kulishov, deputy Secretary of the Security Council of Russia Rashid Nurgaliyev, and State Duma Deputy Mikhail Degtyarev. In addition, the list included the governor of the Krasnodar Territory Alexander Tkachev, the head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov, presidential aide and ex-head of the Ministry of Communications Igor Shchegolev, Russian businessman Konstantin Malofeev and shareholder of Rossiya Bank Nikolai Shamalov. The list also includes Crimean Interior Minister Sergei Abisov, one of the leaders of the self-proclaimed DPR Pavel Gubarev, his wife, DPR Foreign Minister Ekaterina Gubareva, speaker of the DPR Supreme Council Boris Litvinov and an employee of the LPR press service Oksana Chigrina.

In addition, several Crimean companies were included in the list: the Kerch commercial port and the Kerch ferry crossing, as well as the Massandra winery, the Novy Svet winery, the commercial port of Sevastopol, the Magarach National Institute of Grapes and Wine, the Universal- Avia". The list also includes the Russian airline Dobrolet and the United Shipbuilding Corporation.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law "On Sanctions", which provides for the possibility of imposing more than 20 types of sanctions against Russia, including the termination of the transit of energy resources. the law was signed by the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko, on September 12 the law came into force.

On September 1, Australia banned the supply of arms and equipment for the oil and gas sector to Russia, the access of Russian state banks to the Australian capital market, investment in or trade with Crimea. was expanded to 63 individuals and 21 companies and organizations. In addition, Australia suspended the supply of uranium to Russia. March 31, 2015.

The European Union has published a new sanctions list. Rosneft, Transneft, Gazprom Neft fell under the EU sanctions. The EU has banned the supply of dual-use goods to nine companies in the Russian defense sector, in particular, the list includes Oboronprom, the United Aircraft Corporation (UAC), Uralvagonzavod, and the Kalashnikov Concern.

European companies to provide Russian partners with exploration and production services for deep sea and arctic oil, as well as for shale oil projects.

The European Union has tightened access to loans of a number of state-owned banks of the Russian Federation and reduced the term of loans.

The new sanctions list includes State Duma deputies Svetlana Zhurova, Nikolai Levichev, Igor Lebedev, Ivan Melnikov, Alexander Babakov.

The United States blocked the assets of five Russian defense companies accessible to American jurisdiction. The sanctions list includes Almaz-Antey (one of the world's largest manufacturers of air defense systems), the Research Institute of Instrument Engineering (manufacturer of systems for combat aircraft and air defense systems), Mytishchi Machine-Building Plant, Kalinin Machine-Building Plant, as well as a company designated as "Research and production center in Dolgoprudny".

On access to the capital market for 6 Russian banks. The sanctions affect Sberbank, VTB and its subsidiary Bank of Moscow, Gazprombank, Russian Agricultural Bank, Vnesheconombank.

New US sanctions limit cooperation with Russian oil companies, including Gazprom Neft, Lukoil and Rosneft. In addition, the list includes Gazprom, Surgutneftegaz, Transneft, Rostec.

Canada announced the expansion of the list of sanctions against Russia. The new sanctions list includes Sberbank and five defense enterprises of the Russian Federation: the Research and Production Center in Dolgoprudny, the M.I. Kalinin Machine-Building Plant (MZiK), the Mytishchi Machine-Building Plant, and the Research Institute of Instrumentation named after V. V. Tikhomirov" (NIIP) and JSC "Marine Research Institute of Radio Electronics "Altair" (JSC "MNIIRE "Altair"). The list of persons who were banned from entering Canada, as well as possible assets were frozen, included Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Yuri Sadovenko, Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Dmitry Bulgakov, First Deputy General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Nikolai Bogdanovsky and Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces Oleg Salyukov.

EU candidate countries Montenegro, Iceland and Albania, as well as Liechtenstein, Norway, members of the European Economic Area and Ukraine, joined the EU sanctions package against Russia on September 12.

The European Union included in the sanctions list of candidates for the November 2 elections of heads and parliaments of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics and representatives of the leadership of the LPR and DPR. The organizations that fell under the sanctions were the public organizations of the DPR "Donetsk Republic" and "Free Donbass", from the LPR - "Peace to the Lugansk Region", "People's Union" and "Lugansk Economic Union". In total, the list includes 13 names and 5 public organizations. Those on the list are banned from entering the EU, and their assets in the EU are frozen.

The Japanese government has imposed sanctions on a number of individuals and organizations in the Donbass. In total, there are 26 people on the list, as well as 14 organizations.

US President Barack Obama has announced that he has signed a decree on new sanctions against Russia and the annexed Crimea. The decree prohibits new investments by US residents in the Crimean region of Ukraine, the import of goods, services, technologies into the US from Crimea, as well as the export, re-export, sale and supply of goods, services and technologies from the US or by persons residing in the US to the Crimean region. operating in Crimea, as well as financial institutions that directly or indirectly carry out transactions with Crimea.

Against 24 citizens of Russia and Ukraine, as well as a number of companies. Among those under sanctions is Konstantin Malofeev's Marshall Capital Partners fund. Also on the list of sanctions were a number of leaders of the Crimea and Donbass, as well as the biker organization Night Wolves.

Canada added 11 more citizens of the Russian Federation to the sanctions list. It included 10 parliamentarians, including the vice-speaker of the State Duma and the head of the faction " United Russia Vladimir Vasiliev, deputies Leonid Kalashnikov (KPRF), Igor Lebedev (LDPR), Oleg Lebedev (LDPR), Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Nikolai Levichev ("Fair Russia"), First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Ivan Melnikov (KPRF), deputies Viktor Vodolatsky ("United Russia"), Svetlana Zhurova ("United Russia") and Vladimir Nikitin (KPRF). In addition, the list includes Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council Yuri Vorobyov, as well as the head of the representative office of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) in the Russian Federation Andrey Rodkin. Thus , the number of individuals who fell under Canadian sanctions has reached 77. The new package of sanctions also provides for restrictions on the export of technologies that are used in the oil and gas industries.

Against the economy and tourism industry of Crimea. In particular, ships providing cruise services are prohibited from entering the ports of Sevastopol, Kerch, Yalta, Feodosia, Evpatoria, Chernomorsk and the port of Kamysh-Burun. In addition, the EU has expanded by more than six times the list of goods and technologies prohibited from deliveries to Crimea and for use in Crimea in the areas of transport, telecommunications, energy and exploration, extraction and production of oil, gas and minerals. More than 160 items were included in the list.

Due to US sanctions, two international payment systems - Visa and MasterCard - decided to suspend servicing Russian bank cards operating in Crimea.

The head of EU diplomacy, Federica Mogherini, confirmed the extension of individual sanctions against Russia and Donbass militias until September 2015.

Published a list of individual sanctions against persons whom the EU considers responsible for the destabilization of the situation in Ukraine.

The list includes 19 people, including Deputy Commander of the DPR militia Eduard Basurin, Russian singer, State Duma deputy and native of Donbass Iosif Kobzon, State Duma deputy from the Communist Party Valery Rashkin, Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov, First Deputy Defense Minister Arkady Bakhin, as well as Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces RF Andrey Kartapolov.

The list also includes a number of representatives of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. In particular, LPR Minister of Justice Alexander Shubin, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the LPR Sergey Litvin, Commander-in-Chief of the "People's Militia" of the LPR Sergey Ignatov, Finance Minister of the LPR Evgeny Manuilov, Minister economic development LPR Olga Besedina, acting Prosecutor General of the LPR Zaur Ismailov, Minister of Justice of the DPR Ekaterina Filippova, Minister of Revenue and Duties of the DPR Alexander Timofeev and Minister of Communications of the DPR Viktor Yatsenko.

The list also includes the Cossack National Guard, whose commander, Nikolai Kozitsyn, was already on the sanctions list, the Sparta battalion and its commander Arseniy Pavlov, the Somali battalion and its commander Mikhail Tolstykh, the Zarya battalion, the defendant’s Ghost brigade the sanctions list of Alexei Mozgovoy, the Oplot battalion, the Kalmius battalion and the Death battalion. The sanctions also affected the commanders of the militia units Pavel Dremov and Alexei Milchakov.

Announced the introduction of new sanctions against 37 individuals and 17 organizations from the Russian Federation and Ukraine. The black list of Canada from the Russian side included Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia Anatoly Antonov and CEO of Rostec Corporation Sergey Chemezov, Russian biker Alexander Zaldostanov, deputy Valery Rashkin, singer and deputy Iosif Kobzon and journalist Dmitry Kiselev.

In addition, the list includes Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the RF Armed Forces Andrei Kartapolov, Rear Admiral Valery Kulikov, Major General Alexei Naumets, Rear Admiral Alexander Nosatov and Lieutenant General Igor Turchenyuk.

Sanctions were also imposed on the Deputy Commander of the Headquarters of the DPR Militia Eduard Basurin, First Deputy Chairman People's Council LPR Vladislav Deinego, as well as other representatives of the self-proclaimed republics.

In addition, the list includes the Cossack National Guard, the Sparta battalion and its leader Arseniy Pavlov, nicknamed Motorola, the Somali battalion and its commander Mikhail Tolstykh, nicknamed Givi, the Zarya battalion, the Ghost brigade, the Oplot battalion , battalion "Kalmius", battalion "Death". The sanctions also affected the commander of the Rusich unit, Alexei Milchakov, nicknamed Fritz, the Minister of Defense of the LPR, Oleg Bugrov, and other representatives of the militia.

The state oil company Rosneft is included in Canada's sanctions list, and sanctions have also been imposed on the public movement Novorossiya.

Extended the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13660 of March 6, 2014. Thus, all rounds of sanctions against Russia imposed in 2014, including the latest economic sanctions against Crimea from December 2014, are extended for a year.

In addition to the EU sanctions of 27 August 2014 against Russia, it also enforced restrictions adopted in December 2014 regarding a ban on trade with Crimea and Sevastopol. All foreign investments in the Crimea and Sevastopol are now prohibited, the previously existing ban on the export of certain products to this region has been expanded with new names. The sanctions legislation also added a list of 28 individuals and enterprises previously subject to EU sanctions with which Swiss entrepreneurs are prohibited from trading.

They introduced new sanctions against individuals and organizations involved, in their opinion, in the crisis in Ukraine. The list published by the US Treasury Department included, in particular, the Russian National Commercial Bank (RNKB), the Eurasian Youth Union, as well as 14 citizens of the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Among them are former Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and Secretary of the DPR Security Council Alexander Khodakovsky.

The EU Council's decision to extend until September 15, 2015 individual EU sanctions on Ukraine against citizens and legal entities of the Russian Federation and Ukraine was published in the Official Journal of the EU. Sanctions imposed a year earlier were due to expire on March 15.

The list includes three citizens of the Russian Federation and 14 legal entities. The leaders of the Eurasian Youth Union Alexander Dugin, Pavel Kanishchev and Andrey Kovalenko were added to the list. In addition, the expansion of sanctions affected, in particular, the Marshall Capital Fund, the Night Wolves motorcycle club, Gazprom, Gazprom Neft, Surgutneftegaz and Transneft.

The list published on the website of the Canadian government also includes: the Eurasian Youth Union, JSC Sirius (produces optoelectronics for military and civilian use), JSC Tula Arms Plant, PJSC United Aircraft Corporation, Khimkompozit company (produces materials for defense industry), arms manufacturer OAO High Precision Complexes, association Stankoinstrument (specializes in mechanical engineering) and OPK Oboronprom.

At the level of Foreign Ministers, he extended economic sanctions against the Russian Federation until January 31, 2016, approving the relevant amendments to the EU decision on sectoral restrictive measures against Russia.

They announced the expansion of sanctions. The list has grown by 11 individuals and 15 legal entities, including subsidiaries of VEB and Rosneft. The sanctions list has been expanded to 61 points with the justification "in connection with the events in Ukraine and activities in the Crimean region of Ukraine."

Among the legal entities that fell under the sanctions, there are Russian, Finnish, Cypriot companies. In particular, we are talking about the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant and the Izhmash concern; ports of Evpatoria, Feodosiya, Kerch, Sevastopol, Yalta; company "Kerch Ferry".

The Committee of Permanent Representatives of the EU Member States (Coreper) decided to extend until March 2016 individual sanctions against citizens of Russia and Ukraine, whom the EU considers responsible for undermining the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. As of September 2015, the EU sanctions list includes 150 people, including Russian officials and representatives of the LPR and DPR, as well as 37 legal entities.

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko introduced sanctions against the Russian Federation for a period of one year. The sanctions list included 388 individuals and 105 legal entities, including citizens of 23 states. Ukrainian sanctions affected 28 Russian banks and 25 Russian airlines. Channel One, TV channels RTR-Planeta, Rossiya 24, NTV and three correspondents from the TASS news agency. In total, the sanctions also include seven bloggers from 17 countries, including from Russia, Kazakhstan, Germany, Israel, Spain, and Switzerland. Sanctions were also imposed on BBC journalists. The next day, given the significant public outcry and the strategic importance of relations with the European Union, Kiev lifted sanctions on journalists from Britain, Germany and Spain.

The largest Russian carriers, including Aeroflot (with all its subsidiaries), Transaero, and Sibir, which is being rehabilitated. , all of them are partially or completely prohibited from transiting resources, flights and transportation through the territory of Ukraine.

The National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine has imposed sanctions against several charitable foundations from Russia. The list of organizations to which personal special economic and other restrictive measures are applied includes, in particular, charitable foundations: Ekaterina Gubareva, Global Initiatives, New Martyrs and Confessors of Christ, We Don’t Leave Our Own and the Interregional public organization promoting the preservation of national traditions and cultural heritage "Veche". The Security Service of Ukraine accuses these charitable foundations of funding the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics.

It became known that the US Treasury has included FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov in its sanctions list on Syria. Of the individuals on the list, three more people are citizens of Syria and Cyprus. the list includes six companies in Syria, Cyprus and Russia, including the Russian Financial Alliance bank, which, according to the Ministry of Finance, is associated with Ilyumzhinov. Sanctions have been imposed for contacts with the Syrian government and state institutions that the US has declared illegal.

The US Treasury published a sanctions list of 34 individuals and organizations from Russia and Ukraine, which, according to the department, assisted Russia in interfering in the affairs of Ukraine. Subsidiaries and non-state pension funds of Sberbank and VTB, as well as Novikombank, the development company GALS-Development and the online payment service Yandex-Money were added to the list of sectoral sanctions. In addition, the Crimean wineries Novy Svet, Massandra and Magarach, as well as representatives of Kalashnikov and the Izhevsk Mechanical Plant, were subject to sanctions.

Russian retaliatory sanctions

On March 20, 2014, in response to sanctions against a number of Russian officials and deputies of the Federal Assembly, the Russian Foreign Ministry published a list of officials and members of the US Congress who are denied entry into the Russian Federation. The list includes nine people.

On March 24, in response to Canadian sanctions, the Russian Foreign Ministry published a list of 13 Canadian officials, members of parliament and public figures of Canada who are denied entry to Russia.

The State Council of the Republic of Crimea published on the official website a list of persons whose stay is considered undesirable in the Republic of Crimea. The list includes 320 people, including leading Ukrainian politicians, deputies of the Verkhovna Rada. On April 1, this list was replenished with 10 names, among them - the former Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko and the leader of the "Right Sector" Dmitry Yarosh.

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexander Lukashevich, said that Moscow has taken retaliatory measures to expand the sanctions lists from the United States, the EU and Canada, they are in many ways mirrored. At the same time, Russia will not publish the names of specific individuals against whom it imposes sanctions in response to the sanctions lists of Western countries. According to the Foreign Ministry, the people on the "stop list" will find out that they are on the Russian "black list" when they cross the Russian border.

Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov imposed sanctions against US President Barack Obama, President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz. Kadyrov instructed to freeze their bank accounts and any assets, the listed politicians were banned from entering the Chechen Republic.

For a year, it restricted the import of a number of goods from countries that imposed sanctions against it.

On August 6, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on the application of certain special economic measures to ensure security. The corresponding list includes beef, pork, fruits, poultry, cheeses and dairy products, nuts and other products. The List of agricultural products, raw materials and foodstuffs, the country of origin of which is the United States of America, the countries of the European Union, Canada, Australia and the Kingdom of Norway, has been approved. Later, goods that, for one reason or another, are difficult for Russia to replace, were excluded from the list.

On August 11, the government of the Russian Federation limited government purchases of foreign light industry goods. According to the list of goods, foreign fabrics, outerwear and overalls, leather clothing, underwear, footwear, fur products and others are not allowed for purchases that are not related to the state defense order. The restriction does not apply to goods produced in the territory of Belarus and Kazakhstan and goods not produced in the Russian Federation.

Japanese Ambassador to the Russian Federation Chikahito Harada was handed a list of Japanese citizens who are restricted from entering Russia in response to Tokyo sanctions.

The Izvestiya newspaper, citing sources in the Russian Foreign Ministry, reported that over 200 politicians and officials from the EU and the US are included in the list of foreign citizens who may be banned from entering the Russian Federation. This list is a mirror image of similar blacklists of the European Union and NATO countries. The first place in the number of such citizens is occupied by the United States - over 60 people. The list includes Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Caroline Atkinson, US Assistants Daniel Pfeiffer and Benjamin Rhodes, US Congressional Majority Leader Harry Reid, Speaker of the US House of Representatives John Boehner, Senate Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Robert Menendez, Senators Mary Landrew, John McCain.

The EU Delegation in Moscow has received a list of citizens of EU countries who are banned from entering Russia. The document (as of May 26, 2015) contains 89 names, including about 20 current and 10 former members of the European Parliament, current and former heads of intelligence services in Britain and countries Baltic Sea, a number of British, German, Polish and Estonian military leaders, as well as the deputy head of the Romanian state company Transgaz. . The list includes representatives of 17 out of 27 EU countries. The fifth part of the list is occupied by representatives of Poland (18 names), followed by Britain (9), Sweden, Estonia (8 each), Germany, Lithuania (7 each), Latvia and Romania (5 each).

A decree of Russian President Vladimir Putin has been published on the extension for a year of special economic measures against the West, introduced by decree of the President of the Russian Federation of August 6, 2014. The response period has been extended from 6 August 2015 to 5 August 2016.

It extended the food embargo, introduced as a response to the sanctions, to Albania, Montenegro, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Ukraine, and the latter with a delay - the ban on the import of its products will come into force only if Kiev applies the economic part of the association agreement with the European Union.

The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources

In early August 2017, US President Donald Trump signed into law the Countering America's Enemies with Sanctions Act, which tightens restrictions on several countries, including Russia. This step finally removed the last illusions about the imminent lifting or easing of sanctions. Now it is already obvious that they will have to live with them for many more years.

The rules of various countries governing sanctions against Russia have become so numerous and complex that it has become difficult to understand them. This is what we are going to try to do now.

WHY DID THEY IMPOSE SANCTIONS ON RUSSIA?

The reason for imposing sanctions was not only the events in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea. The first recent sanctions were introduced back in 2010-2012 as a result of a well-known corruption scandal. Previous disagreements with the West, including the 2008 war in Georgia, have not resulted in sanctions. IN chronological order The reasons for the sanctions were:

"The Magnitsky Case"

Recall that according to some reports, a number of government officials of the Russian Federation and individuals have created a conspiracy to steal large sums from the Russian budget. The scope of the alleged abuses and the death in prison of US Heritage Foundation auditor Sergei Magnitsky caused widespread controversy, leading the US, the EU and several other countries to impose personal sanctions against the alleged perpetrators of the crime.

Currently, several dozen people are under sanctions, they are denied entry to these states, and all their property on the territory of these countries is blocked.

Sanctions in the "Magnitsky case" did not have much impact on the Russian economy. However, their political effect cannot be underestimated, since it was they who marked the final turn to the irreversible deterioration of relations between Russia and the West and became a model for the imposition of subsequent, much more unpleasant sanctions.

For the war in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea

In 2014, the US, the EU and some other countries imposed a series of sanctions against Russia as punishment for annexing Crimea and participating in the events in Ukraine. Personal sanctions were adopted against individuals and organizations, “sectoral” sanctions against certain sectors of the Russian economy, as well as sanctions against Crimea.

For "cyber espionage" and interference in the US presidential election

In late 2016, just before he retired, President Obama passed an executive order imposing sanctions for "malicious computer activities" against the United States, that is, for alleged Russian hacking during the US elections.

The list of those punished included the FSB, the GRU and several other organizations. Several individuals were also sanctioned, for example, a certain hacker Belan, nicknamed “Fedunya”, Bogachev, nicknamed “Monster”, as well as several GRU officials.

All these persons had their property blocked in the United States, and the Americans were prohibited from any transactions with them. Obama also expelled a number of Russian diplomats from the country and took away two diplomatic dachas from the Russian embassy.

President Putin did not immediately retaliate, apparently hoping for better relations with the United States during the Trump presidency. However, when American sanctions against Russia were tightened in the summer of 2017, mirror measures were nevertheless taken belatedly - the dacha in Serebryany Bor was taken away from the American embassy, ​​and it was ordered to reduce staff.

For Syria

The US has imposed extensive sanctions on the Syrian government over the ongoing civil war. These sanctions also included several Russian subjects, such as Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Tempbank, Tempbank employees, Russian Financial Alliance Bank (now defunct) and some others.

The 2014 Ukraine Support Act also gave Obama the right to impose separate sanctions on the Russian Federation for the production and sale of defense products to Syria. However, the president did not use this right, since the sanctions “for Ukraine” already covered a large number of people.

For everything together

Contrary to popular belief, the justification for tightening sanctions under the recent US law in August 2017 was not just Russian alleged interference in the US presidential election. The law refers to a very long list of Russian transgressions, including annexing Crimea, harming Ukraine, supporting the Syrian government, corruption, fighting freedom of the press, interfering in the internal affairs and elections of many countries around the world, and much more.

Since there was no reason to strengthen the sanctions at that particular time, the prevailing opinion is that the adoption of this law was a purely American domestic political event, in which Russia was offered only the role of a whipping boy.

WHAT IS THE SPECIFIC CONTENT OF SANCTIONS?

Sanctions against the Russian Federation can be divided into several types according to their direct effect.

"Blocking Sanctions" on Individuals.

These are sanctions against individuals (legal entities and individuals) who, for example, are involved in “the establishment of state power in the Crimean region of Ukraine without the permission of the government of Ukraine, thereby undermining democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine.” Others were subjected to personal sanctions for other reasons: the Magnitsky case, cyber espionage, etc.

The property of these persons in the United States and other countries participating in the sanctions is blocked, and it is prohibited to conduct any transactions with them. The restrictions also apply to organizations more than 50% owned by these individuals. Individuals are prohibited from entering the territory of these countries. Americans are not even allowed to provide them with assistance of a purely humanitarian nature - to provide food, clothing, medicine.

A specific list of "blocked" persons is compiled by the US Treasury (Department of the Treasury) in consultation with the Department of State (Department of Foreign Affairs). At present, about 300 names are included in such lists for various reasons.

The current list of individuals is very diverse, it includes a variety of people from Strelkov-Girkin and motorcyclist Zaldostanov to Kobzon and Ramzan Kadyrov. Prominent economic figures, such as the Rotenberg brothers, the Kovalchuk brothers, Timchenko, etc., also got there - along with their subsidiaries. Is on the list and I.I. Sechin, but only in his personal capacity. Since Rosneft is not legally owned by more than 50%, the oil company does not fall under this type of sanctions.

The list also includes many legal entities, primarily defense industry enterprises such as Uralvagonzavod and Almaz-Antey.

Sanctions against Crimea.

Any transactions “in relation to” Crimea are prohibited. Investments in enterprises located on the peninsula, purchase and sale of any goods, services, technologies and property on this territory are prohibited. Specifically, about 50 Crimean enterprises (including, for example, the Yalta film studio), with which it is forbidden to conduct any transactions, also fell under the sanctions.

However, the US government still made some concessions - it issued exceptions, the so-called "general licenses". Any persons are allowed to sell agricultural products, some medicines, spare parts, provide for the use of some programs (for example, social networking sites), and provide certain telecommunications services. Private bank transfers to Crimea are allowed. True, in practice this is not feasible, since none of the banks operating in Crimea is connected to the SWIFT system, and does not have correspondent accounts in foreign banks.

Sectoral sanctions

This type of sanctions by the US and its allies affects the most important sectors of the Russian economy - banking and energy, limiting the ability to invest in them and supply certain technologies and equipment. The August 2017 law also gave the US government the right to extend sanctions to the railway, mining and metallurgical sectors of the Russian economy as well. The essence of these sanctions is as follows:

Restrictions on transactions with shares and debt obligations.

It is prohibited to conduct transactions with shares of a number of specific largest companies in the energy and financial sector of Russia, as well as with their debt obligations issued for more than a certain period.

"Debt transactions" include not only the purchase of bonds, but also the simple provision of loans.

These companies were divided into three groups:

• Prohibition on transactions with newly issued shares and debts for more than 14 days (until August 2017 - 30 days). This list includes the largest banks and financial companies of the Russian Federation (as well as their subsidiaries), including Sberbank, VTB, VEB, Rosagrobank, Gazprombank, Yandex.Money.
• Ban on transactions with newly issued debts over 60 days (previously - 90 days). The ban affects some of Russia's largest energy companies - Rosneft, Gazpromneft, Transneft and Novatek.
• Prohibition on transactions with new debts for more than 30 days. This group mainly includes companies in the defense and high-tech sectors.

All other transactions with companies from these lists are allowed.

Restrictions on Technology Transfer to Russian Energy Companies.

The detailed regulation of this type of restriction is carried out by several executive authorities in the United States.

The US Treasury has issued a directive prohibiting Americans from selling equipment, providing services, and transferring technology that would be used for oil exploration and production in deep water (over 500 feet, that is, about 150 meters), offshore arctic(located inside the Arctic Circle) and shale deposits in Russia and adjacent offshore areas by the largest Russian companies.

We are talking only about oil production, as Russia's European partners persuaded the United States not to touch the gas. The provision of financial services, such as lending and insurance, is not prohibited.

The list of companies that are prohibited from transferring such equipment is wider than the list that imposes a limit on lending over 60 days. It includes Gazprom, Rosneft, LUKOIL, Surgutneftegaz and other oil companies, but does not include, for example, pure gas Novatek.

At first, the ban on the transfer of equipment and technologies applied not only to these organizations, but also to companies in which they had more than 50% participation. But in August 2017, this restriction was tightened and now we are talking not only about the "daughters" of Russian companies, but also companies and projects in which they have more than 33% of the participation. In addition, if earlier it was only about projects in Russia (and adjacent to it), now the sanctions apply to operations around the world.

Another agency - the US Department of Commerce - is issuing licenses for the export of products for which there is a regime of restrictions, including in view of the imposed sanctions.

An export license is required to transfer certain technologies and equipment that can be used, directly or indirectly, for the exploration or production of oil or gas in deep water (deeper than 500 feet), arctic offshore or shale fields in Russia, and also in cases where it is not possible to determine exactly whether the equipment will be used in such fields.

Thus, we are talking not only about oil production, but also about gas. Licenses are required for the supply of equipment and technologies to any company in Russia, not just those on the list of sanctions.

When applying for an export license, the presumption of refusal in cases where the equipment can be used in the mentioned fields for oil production.

Specific restricted equipment includes (but is not limited to): drilling rigs, horizontal drilling equipment, drilling and completion equipment, subsea processing equipment, offshore equipment likely to be used in the Arctic, well and wireline motors and equipment, drill pipe and casing pipes, software for hydraulic fracturing, high pressure pumps, seismic equipment, devices with remote control, compressors, expanders, valves, risers.

US Export Control is attempting to extend its rules beyond the US. Thus, the transfer to Russia of equipment containing at least 25% of American products from any country and by any person should fall under these restrictions.

By the way, restrictions on the export to Russia of equipment that can be used for military purposes, namely the requirement to obtain an export license, existed even before the Crimean crisis, so no separate sanctions were adopted regarding this type of product.

WHAT IS THE NEW PROVISIONS INCLUDED IN THE RECENT AMERICAN LAW?

The new US law, which Trump so reluctantly signed, includes several important provisions that affect the interests of the Russian Federation.

First, the procedure for reviewing sanctions has changed dramatically.

Previously, Congress passed only a "framework law" that gave the president the right to impose and lift sanctions on his own. Specific restrictions and lists of affected persons were adopted on a routine basis by presidential decrees and acts of certain ministries. This is how Obama accepted the sanctions. Now congressmen have incorporated into the new act all the sanctions imposed by Obama's decrees, thus giving them the force of law.

The new law also provides that the lifting of existing sanctions, changes to the list of affected persons, as well as the granting of critical exemptions (so-called "licenses") must be considered in both houses of Congress. If Congress does not agree to the lifting or modification of sanctions, it will take a decision about this - in the form of a law. This impromptu bill can be vetoed by the President, but in theory this veto can be overridden by Congress, as usual, by a two-thirds majority.

These new rules severely restrict the rights of the president and significantly delay the prospect of lifting sanctions.

Thus, in order to remove some repentant Zaldostanov from the list of persons under sanctions now, this decision will have to be considered in the form of a bill in the Congress committees, passed through both chambers, and, if necessary, vetoed. With the hostility of Congress, the only hope of the informal biker will be that Congress will not have time to override the veto within a certain maximum period.

Trump did not want to sign this law, but was forced to do so, because he understood that his veto would be easily overcome - both Democrats and Republicans unanimously voted for the bill, and there were only a few "against" votes.

Secondly, the new law toughened the regime of already existing sectoral sanctions against the Russian Federation. As we have already mentioned, the maximum term of permitted debt obligations has been reduced. The new deadlines were 14 days for banks under sanctions (previously 30 days) and 60 days for energy companies (previously 60 days).

In addition, as already mentioned, the law tightens restrictions on Russian oil projects in deep water, offshore Arctic and shale fields, setting a maximum threshold of 33% participation of Russian organizations in projects to which Americans can sell equipment and technologies.

Third, by law, Congress gives the president the power—and in some cases, the obligation—to impose all sorts of new sanctions against certain individuals.

Thus, the President can impose sanctions - in coordination with United States allies - on any person who sells equipment, technology and services worth more than $ 1 million related to the construction, modernization and support of Russian pipelines that send energy for export, or commits related investments.

It was this point that aroused the indignation of the Europeans, who saw here, not without reason, an attempt to ban the construction of new pipelines from Russia. In order to reassure them, the Americans inserted the wording about "coordination with allies" into the final law.

This provision is actually extraterritorial - restrictions are imposed not only on American persons, but in general on any individual and legal entity in the world.

But keyword here - "may". It seems unlikely that, under the current conditions, the US president would impose sanctions on Europeans, for example, for participating in Nord Stream 2. However, selective application of such sanctions is likely.

According to the same law, the President of the United States is obliged to impose sanctions on:

• those who knowingly engage in “actions that undermine cybersecurity against any person, including a democratic institution or government, on behalf of the government of the Russian Federation”;
• responsible for “ordering, controlling or otherwise directing serious human rights violations in any territory forcibly occupied or otherwise controlled by the government of the Russian Federation”.
• any persons who carry out “significant operations” with persons who are part of, or acting on behalf of and in the interests of the “defense or intelligence sectors of the Government of the Russian Federation”, including the GRU of the General Staff and the FSB. To prevent Trump from evading this provision, he was ordered to issue rules within 60 days on how to identify such individuals.

This is one of the strangest points in the entire law. Theoretically, any buyers of Russian weapons in the international arena could be subject to sanctions.

• any person who makes an investment in excess of $10 million (or assists in making that investment) if that investment would result in the Russian Federation being able to privatize state property in a manner that would unfairly enrich any Russian official or their friends and relatives.
• foreign persons who facilitated the acquisition of various types of weapons by the Syrian government.

All these sanctions can be applied to any individual and legal entity in the world, no matter where he lives, and no matter what citizenship and jurisdiction he has.

It is difficult to say how actively President Trump will impose these sanctions. In the "statement of signing" - a note accompanying the signing of the law, he stated that he did not agree with many of the provisions of the law (including some of these points), but would sign it in the interests of "the unity of the nation."

In the history of the United States, there have been cases when presidents signed laws, with some insignificant part of which they did not agree, as they indicated in their “statement of signing”. This statement was then used to try to avoid the implementation of these controversial provisions of the signed law.

Fourth, the law contains a declaration of support for Ukraine’s energy industry, including a statement that US policy is to “continue to oppose the Nord Stream 2 pipeline,” given its devastating impact on the energy security of Europe, the development of the gas market in Central and Eastern Europe and Energy Reforms in Ukraine”.

The law also rather cynically states that "the United States government must prioritize the export of United States energy resources in order to create jobs in America, help allies and partners of the United States, and strengthen the foreign policy of the United States."

This latest declaration caused a lot of criticism from the Europeans, who saw in all this law only the desire of the United States to strengthen its position in the European energy market.

It is possible, however, that this in itself legally useless provision was introduced only in order to prick Trump in a Jesuit way - if he had not signed the law, he would have been reproached for being against creating jobs in America, which was one of the main points of his election program.

WHICH COUNTRIES ARE PARTICIPATED IN THE SANCTION REGIME?

The sanctions regime was adopted by almost all countries that can be conditionally called the “white world”. These are the USA and Canada, all countries of geographical Europe, with the exception of Serbia, Bosnia, Macedonia and, of course, Belarus. In addition, Japan, Georgia, Australia, New Zealand and some small Caribbean states have adopted laws on sanctions against the Russian Federation.

The EU sanctions are almost exactly the same as the US sanctions that were in place before the August 2017 law. Only the specific list of persons under sanctions is somewhat different. However, the accession of the Europeans to the latest round of sanctions is still in question. Judging by the protests coming from the representatives of the EU, it is unlikely that this bloc will automatically join the new restrictions, at least not exactly all of them.

And yet, despite the fact that the latest sanctions adopted by the Americans were perceived ambiguously, it is unlikely that the "sanctions coalition" will fall apart in the near future.

WHO MUST COMPLY WITH THESE SANCTIONS? SHOULD NATIONS NOT PARTICIPATED IN THE SANCTION REGIME OBEY IT?

US law establishes that the restriction regime applies to transactions of "US persons or in the United States" (US persons and in the United States). "U.S. Persons" means U.S. citizens, permanent residents, U.S. companies (including branches of foreign companies), and all persons located on its territory.

From a formal point of view, this wording does not imply an attempt to extend American regulation extraterritorially. All persons against whom sanctions are imposed are the object, not the subject, of US law. Foreigners who violate sanctions, the Americans, in theory, can simply be included in the sanctions list, but they cannot be punished precisely for violating the sanctions regime.

The difference here is big - when you get on the sanctions list, you simply lose the opportunity to travel to America and do business with the Americans; if they admit that you are violating the sanctions regime, then you can be subjected to criminal punishment in the United States and go to prison for 20 years.

Recently, however, some purely legally extraterritorial element has also appeared in the practice of enforcement of sanctions. Any non-cash settlements in US dollars between persons, even those who are not located in the United States, are considered to be transactions carried out in the United States as well, since money transfers usually go through correspondent accounts of American banks.

Thus, a Chinese, and even a Russian, who paid something, or received something in non-cash dollars from a company under sanctions, can also theoretically be recognized as a violator of sanctions - and be detained somewhere in Thailand and sent to America to go to jail for 20 years.

In EU legislation, on the contrary, the persons who must comply with sanctions against the Russian Federation are very clearly defined, namely:

• citizens of EU member states,
• organizations established under the laws of EU member states,
• organizations doing business wholly or partly in the EU,
• any person within the EU
• any persons on the territory of any aircraft or vessel flying under the jurisdiction of EU Member States.

WHY ARE RUSSIA'S PARTNERS SO AFRAID OF VIOLATING THESE SANCTIONS? CAN THESE SANCTIONS BE BYPASSED?

Companies with international operations are very afraid of punishment for violating sanctions, especially from the United States. If they conduct at least some activity in the US, Americans can consider them subjects of their laws and, accordingly, punish them for this violation.

As we have already indicated, even if a company has never conducted any activity in the USA, and not a single one of their employees has ever set foot there, but in the calculations it uses American dollars - it can be recognized that it does business in the USA as well. and, therefore, is obliged to comply with the sanctions regime.

In 2015, the US authorities fined the largest French bank, BNP-Paribas, a mind-boggling sum of $9 billion (not a typo, just billions) for allegedly violating US sanctions against Iran. Although France does not participate in the Iran sanctions regime and the bank's division dealing with Iran was not located in the US, the reason for the fine was that the bank settled these transactions through US dollar correspondent accounts.

Despite the protests of the French government, the fine was imposed, and BNP-Paribas paid for it, as the alternative would be to ban the bank from using dollars in settlements, that is, the actual closure of the bank.

To be frank, the US government has been acting a bit like a bandit lately, and it takes money not only from foreign corporations, but also from native American companies - for example, $ 13 billion was taken from J.P. Morgan Bank in the form of fine for alleged violations in mortgage lending, the Bank of America - $ 17 billion.

In the United States, not only the president can impose fines, but also very numerous agencies and departments, federal and state levels, whose leaders in this way - "punishing evil corporations" - increase their political capital. Recently, there has been an unprecedented strengthening of the role of the state in the United States, despite the fact that all legal institutions, decentralization and the number of rogues in power have remained unchanged there since Marktven's times, when the role of the state was very weak and it could not harm anyone much.

Against this background, it would be the simplest and most honorable thing to fine a company like Siemens several billion dollars by the authority of some New York State Comptroller for violating the sanctions regime. It is not surprising that international companies are afraid to somehow provoke the annoyance or attention of American "competent authorities".

As we have already said, in addition to fines, there is also a very severe criminal punishment for violating the sanctions regime for an individual (including officials corporations). This is a fine of up to $1 million and a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Given all this, it is not surprising that foreign corporations are trying to avoid violating the sanctions regime and not getting involved in schemes to evade them.

WHAT IMPACT DID THE SANCTIONS HAVE ON THE ECONOMY OF RUSSIA, INCLUDING THE OIL AND GAS SECTOR?

There is no doubt that in recent years the Russian economy has experienced significant difficulties. However, it is difficult to determine how large the contribution of international sanctions is to this.

In general, there is an opinion in the press and among economists that the main reason for the difficulties in the Russian economy was not international sanctions, but the fall in oil prices. In 2016, for example, oil and gas exports from Russia amounted to $151 billion, up from $349 billion in 2013.

In addition, there are structural problems of the Russian economy: excessive stateization, inefficient state institutions and regulation, corruption, which caused economic growth in Russia to slow down even before the Crimean crisis.

Still, the impact of sanctions on the Russian economy cannot be underestimated.

The most serious damage is caused by the restriction of lending to large Russian banks and companies from abroad. The first blow was the need to return large loans to foreign creditors without the possibility of refinancing. In total, in 2014-2016, the difference between repaid and attracted loans of Russian companies amounted to about 170 billion dollars. Although the Russians, in general, have so far managed to get out, but such a monetary failure has become one of the reasons for the devaluation of the ruble.

Even more serious are the long-term consequences of restricting foreign lending. Most major investments, including in the real sector of the economy, for example, the opening of new industries, are carried out through bank loans, including syndicated ones, with participants from many countries. Inside the Russian Federation, there is now little capital for investment (in 2016, the assets of the banking system for the first time in the history of the Russian Federation decreased), Europe, the USA and Japan, that is, 95% of the global financial market, are closed to Russian borrowers, and the Chinese are not yet eager to invest a lot in Russia.

Since only the largest banks, such as Sberbank, VTB, were sanctioned, it is theoretically possible that Western financing will go through other banks that are not sanctioned. However, this is unlikely to be a strong source of investment, not least because Russia's banking system is now becoming more and more consolidated.

There is a high probability that without the resumption of lending from abroad, the resumption of high economic growth rates in Russia will be difficult.

The energy industry has also been directly affected. Sanctions have had a particularly unpleasant impact on heavily indebted companies such as Rosneft. There were rumors that it was the actions of Rosneft that caused the collapse of the ruble exchange rate, as the company was forced to buy dollars on the open market in huge quantities due to the inability to borrow money in dollars.

As for restrictions on the supply of equipment, it affects a rather narrow area: deep-water drilling, production on the Arctic shelf and shale oil. Therefore, on a macroeconomic scale, the impact of this ban is not very strong. However, for individual companies, these sanctions, and especially those adopted in August 2017, are quite painful, as they limit their ability to develop some new projects.

Sanctions also have a negative psychological and moral impact. The situation when the country is under sanctions scares away most of the investors. If foreign companies already operating in Russia can still decide to develop and invest new money, then companies that have never operated in Russia are unlikely to open their enterprises and invest money in the country.

Sometimes the opinion is expressed that sanctions are an incentive for the development of their own industry. But this statement is more than debatable.

A certain "import substitution" is actually happening now. But it makes no sense to rejoice and praise the sanctions for this.

Firstly, such import substitution has as its main reason a sharp devaluation of the ruble, as a result of which the import of various kinds of products from abroad, including equipment, has greatly decreased. Although the ban on lending to large Russian companies for a long period was also one of the reasons for the devaluation, it is likely that the ruble would have fallen sharply without these measures, but simply as a result of the collapse in oil prices.

Secondly, even if the sanctions somehow caused, through devaluation, a decrease in imports and some growth in demand for domestic products, the price of this improvement is very high - the possibility of lending is closed for enterprises. Due to the instability of the ruble, interest rates in lending are very high. Until now, enterprises are credited at 15-20% per annum, and this despite the fact that the official inflation rate, according to the latest data, is about 4%. This rate is almost certainly higher than the average rate of return for the entire engineering industry. Where it makes sense to lend in dollars, for example, in oil and gas production, lending from abroad is in many cases closed, as a result of which a significant number of large projects cannot start.

And, thirdly, all import substitution takes place, as it is not sad to admit, at a very low technological level.

Indeed, many oil companies are now ditching the costly services of companies like Schlumberger or Halliburton and are starting to call on "Uncle Vasya" again to solve their problems. But truly high-tech industries are developing extremely slowly due to serious structural problems in the Russian Federation.

In addition to the problems already mentioned (inefficient state, corruption, etc.), it is necessary to mention the hardest question lack of technical manpower. The old engineering cadres are leaving, the young ones are not being trained in the required quantity and quality. The system of secondary technical education has completely collapsed.

Under such conditions, the task of building a mass competitive high-tech production in Russia is extremely difficult.

WHEN WILL THE SANCTIONS BE REMOVED?

The lifting or easing of sanctions is currently extremely unlikely due to the international political situation, the internal political struggle in the United States and the legal complexity of this process.

As for the EU sanctions, it is quite easy to lift them legally. Unlike the United States, where sanctions are regulated by a whole bunch of documents, the EU sanctions were adopted by one document. European sanctions were first adopted in July 2014 for a period of six months, then they were repeatedly extended every 6 months - the last time on June 28, 2017.

To extend the sanctions, all EU member states must vote unanimously each time. The specific list of persons under sanctions is supplemented in the working order by the executive bodies of the EU.

Thus, it is enough that at least one country votes against, and the sanctions will not be extended and will stop. It is unlikely that any country would go against all the rest. However, if the main members of the EU decide to end the sanctions, no country from the "belt of sufferers" like Poland or Lithuania will be able to prevent this. In this case, the principle of unanimity in the EU works to Russia's advantage.

Formally, EU sanctions are being extended due to Russia's failure to comply with the Minsk agreements. Recall that the Minsk agreements on February 15, 2015 (Minsk-2), adopted during the meeting of the leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany, are now not being implemented by either Russia or Ukraine. The agreements include such difficult-to-implement provisions as the transfer to the Ukrainian government of control over the state border between the Russian Federation and Ukraine in the Donbas region. These agreements impose an obligation on Ukraine, among other things, to change the constitution and grant special status to parts of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, which Ukrainians are also in no hurry to do.

It is difficult to say whether the theoretical implementation of these agreements by Russia will entail the lifting of sanctions by the EU. The very act of sanctions states that they are imposed, among other things, due to the annexation of Crimea by Russia. So the fulfillment by Russia of its part of the Minsk agreements does not yet guarantee the lifting of EU sanctions. However, the hypothetical cessation of the “annexation” of Crimea cannot guarantee anything either.

However, the lifting of European sanctions without the lifting of US sanctions, which have a certain extraterritoriality, will not greatly improve the position of the Russian Federation. American sanctions will be much more difficult to lift.

First, at present, no prerequisites for improving relations between the Russian Federation and the United States are foreseen. Trade between the Russian Federation and the United States has always been at a rather low level, and the Americans are not particularly interested in improving relations with the Russian Federation. It is much more profitable to continue to use it as a bogey for the sake of "the unity of the nation."

Secondly, the lifting of sanctions will require the adoption of a corresponding law, which will have to pass through both houses of Congress. Given the constant squabbles, intrigues and inner-party struggle in this body, it will be difficult to achieve this.

Thirdly, as long as the international situation remains tense, and the Ukrainian and Crimean issues remain unresolved from an international legal point of view, there is no pretext for lifting sanctions. A legal solution to this issue during the life of the majority of readers of this article may not come. Let us recall that, for example, the problem of Northern Cyprus has not been resolved since 1974, and is unlikely to be resolved in the near future.

Sanctions can be lifted in the near future only in the event of a radical change in the international political situation, for example, when some common strong enemy appears. If such an unlikely event does not occur, it could be decades before the sanctions are lifted.

Ruslan Khaliullin

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Since 2014, Western countries have been imposing sanctions against Russian citizens and companies. Their influence is estimated inconsistently - the increased confrontation between Russia and the West has a tangible negative effect in some areas of the economy, while in others it has a positive effect. What are sanctions, why they were introduced and how they affected the Russian economy - read in the article.

The concept of sanctions in modern everyday life is associated with a crisis, trade wars, "black lists" and other prohibitions. But in general view Sanctions are economic restrictions imposed by one country against another country (or group of countries).

The purpose of imposing sanctions is to force the government of the country to make a certain decision by restricting economic transactions. For example, the US sanctions imposed on Iran are designed to force the authorities to curtail the nuclear research program. Sometimes sanctions are imposed not by one country, but by a group of countries (the European Union) or an international organization (UN).

In recent history, sanctions have been introduced to force countries to make decisions such as:

• withdraw troops from the territory of another country;
• accept the terms of an international treaty (disarmament, non-proliferation of nuclear weapons);
• stop political persecution of opposition forces, hold fair elections;
• stop supporting international terrorism.

There are sanctions different types depending on who or what they are directed at. In particular, the following types of sanctions are identified in the literature:

1. individual– against individual individuals and legal entities;
2. diplomatic- expulsion of diplomats from the country, termination of diplomatic relations;
3. sectoral– restrictions on cooperation with a particular industry in the country;
4. commodity- a ban on the purchase or sale of certain goods;
5. financial- prohibition of participation in the international capital market.

The most widely used in recent years are individual and sectoral sanctions (against Russia), as well as commodity ones (against Iran).

In general, sanctions can be called an intermediate stage between diplomatic measures ( with little to gain) and a full-fledged war ( to which in modern world few dare).

Economic sanctions are not always effective, for example, it is practically impossible to stop military aggression with their help, and the degree of impact of sanctions on the economy depends on many factors. Sanctions against hostile countries cannot be effective (because trade between them is already minimal).

From the history of economic sanctions

Economic sanctions against individual countries have been around for a very long time. The first mention of such restrictions dates back to 423 BC, when Athens forbade representatives of the Megara region from visiting its ports and markets, and this led to the start of the Peloponnesian Wars.

Sanctions began to be widely used in the 20th century. The most famous example of sanctions is the US embargo on Cuba. After the leadership of this country confiscated the property of American citizens and organizations in 1960, the import of Cuban sugar was banned in the United States. Later, an almost absolute ban on any movement of goods was established, and the entry of American citizens into Cuba was also prohibited. Sanctions then tightened more and more, and only in 2016 did the United States restore diplomatic relations with Cuba.

Also known are the US sanctions against Iran, which were introduced after the overthrow of the Shah's regime as a result of the Islamic Revolution. The main ban concerned the purchase of Iranian oil, the freezing of Iranian deposits in American banks. The trade ban was lifted in 1980, and other sanctions have since been adjusted. In 1987-1990, restrictions on oil imports from Iran were again in effect.

In the history of the USSR, there were also cases of imposing sanctions. The preconditions for this were the restrictions imposed by the United States on access to high-tech products for the socialist countries. In 1951, during the Korean War, the United States terminated the trade agreement with the USSR, as a result of which customs tariffs on Soviet goods increased by 4 times.

But the most serious were the consequences of the 1974 Jackson-Vanik amendment to American trade laws. The amendment abolished the most favored nation treatment in trade for countries that violated human rights and limited the right to emigrate. This amendment came under the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of August 3, 1972, according to which citizens traveling abroad for permanent residence higher education must reimburse the state for the cost of education. Free emigration from the USSR was allowed in 1989, when the amendment to our country ceased to be valid.

In addition to the Jackson-Vanik amendment, the United States introduced other restrictive measures. In 1980, as a response to the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan, the United States terminated the contract for the supply of 17 million tons of grain to the USSR, prohibited the sale of high-tech goods, and limited cultural, economic and sports (Olympic Games) events. The grain embargo was lifted in 1981, but other restrictions were introduced periodically.

As can be seen, the history of sanctions in the 20th century has much in common with the confrontation between East and West. In the second half of the 1980s, with the beginning of Perestroika, most of the restrictions were lifted.

Sanctions in the modern world

Despite the end of the Cold War and the end of the confrontation between the countries of the socialist bloc and the United States, sanctions remain an instrument of international pressure even now.

As noted above, in the 20th century, Iran was under US sanctions due to political reasons. In 1996, the sanctions were strengthened by the US Congress. Due to the development of a missile and nuclear program, investments in the oil sector of the Iranian economy were prohibited. Violators were threatened with revocation of licenses, restriction of lending and work with government securities. Sanctions against Iran were further tightened after the government of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad resumed the uranium enrichment program in Iran in 2005. The sanctions concerned Iranian banks and the military industry, since 2012 the sale of Iranian oil to the United States has again been banned.

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Some indulgences were planned in 2015, when with the conclusion " nuclear deal» Iran made concessions on its nuclear program. In 2016, sanctions were lifted from a large number of citizens, organizations and property of Iran. Despite this progress, sanctions against Iran were reinstated in 2018. The most likely reason is Iran's support for armed forces in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Yemen.

In addition to Iran, under significant sanctions pressure is North Korea (DPRK). Sanctions aimed at eliminating nuclear weapons were introduced by the UN Security Council in 2006. Despite this, the DPRK conducted a second nuclear test in 2009, which was the reason for the introduction of additional sanctions, including a ban on the sale of weapons, financial restrictions, and others. Rocket tests in 2012 were the reason for the expansion of sanctions by the UN Security Council. Similar situations occurred in 2013, 2016 and 2017, and in recent years, nuclear and missile tests in the DPRK have been carried out more and more often.

In 2018, there was significant progress in relations between the DPRK and the United States: several rounds of negotiations were held, and the leader of North Korea announced his desire to rid the country of nuclear weapons. However, later US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo noted that the sanctions would remain in place until the complete denuclearization (nuclear disarmament) of the Korean Peninsula.

As you can see, sanctions in the modern world remain a tool for ensuring security, including nuclear. At the same time, there are some tendencies towards a gradual abandonment of the sanctions regime.

Anti-Russian sanctions - chronology

Anti-Russian sanctions in modern history start counting since 2014 after the referendum in Crimea, its inclusion in the Russian Federation and the start of hostilities in the east of Ukraine. Russia is accused of an armed seizure of power in Crimea, the participation of Russian military and volunteers in the battles in eastern Ukraine, and military and material support for the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics (DPR and LPR).

The main part of the imposed sanctions has a targeted focus - sanctions are imposed against individuals, enterprises and organizations, sectors of the economy. The following are experiencing the greatest sanctions pressure:

• individuals– officials, senior leadership of Russia, military leaders, owners and management of large Russian businesses, statesmen Crimea, DPR and LPR;
• legal entities– companies operating in Crimea or associated with the oil and gas industry, Russian banks.

Consequently, the purpose of the sanctions is to undermine the potential of the Russian economy, to prohibit the entry and any operations of persons associated with the transfer of Crimea to the Russian Federation and the hostilities in eastern Ukraine.

Sanctions have been in place since March 2014, with each set of sanctions linked to specific events. At the same time, sanctions are taken mainly against individuals or companies.

The table below summarizes the chronology of sanctions against Russia:

year 2014

date of	Who introduced	Against who	Named reason
March 2014	USA, EU, Canada,	High-ranking Ukrainian and Russian politicians are denied entry, asset freeze. Visa restrictions for high-ranking officials, sanctions against individual citizens	Destabilization of the situation in Crimea and Ukraine
April 2014	USA	Crimean oil and gas company "Chernomorneftegaz", Crimean and Russian officials, state companies of the Russian Federation	Non-compliance with the "Geneva Conventions", fueling the conflict in the east of Ukraine
May 2014	Canada, EU,	Russian banks, companies from Crimea and Sevastopol, military leadership of the Russian Federation
June 2014	Canada	Additional economic sanctions, expansion of the restrictive list by 11 citizens of the Russian Federation	Violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine
July 2014	USA, Canada, EU	Russian defense and raw materials enterprises, banks, individual individuals and legal entities (including the DNR/LNR)	Russia's position on the situation in Ukraine
August 2014	Canada, Norway, Ukraine	Russian banks, commanders of armed formations and authorities of the DPR/LPR, large companies in Crimea	Disagreement with the transition of Crimea under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation, escalation of the conflict in the east of Ukraine
September 2014	EU, Canada	Restrictions for Russian companies to financial capital EU; scientific enterprises of the Russian Federation; individual citizens of the Russian Federation	Russian interference in the affairs of Ukraine
December 2014	USA, Canada, EU	Any investment in Crimea; individuals and companies operating in Crimea	Disagreement with the transition of Crimea under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation

2015

date of	Who introduced	Against who	Named reason
January 2015	EU	Extension of sanctions imposed in March 2014 until December 2015
February 2015	EU	19 individuals and 9 legal entities - citizens of the Russian Federation, DPR / LPR	Aggravation of the situation in the south-east of Ukraine
March 2015	USA, Switzerland, EU	Extension of sanctions for a year; adding new legal entities and individuals to the sanctions lists; restrictions in working with Crimea	Threats to peace, security, stability, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine
April 2015	Norway	19 individuals and 9 legal entities - residents of the Russian Federation (deputies, members of the Government, military leadership)	The situation in Ukraine
June 2015	EU	Extension of sanctions for a year	The situation in Ukraine
July 2015	USA, Albania, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Montenegro, Ukraine, Georgia	Extension of sanctions for a year, restrictions on working with companies from Crimea	Events in Ukraine
September 2015	USA, EU, Ukraine	Expansion of sanctions lists: scientific organizations; citizens and companies of the Russian Federation; airlines (ban on flights to Ukraine)	Disagreement with the transition of Crimea under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation, escalation of the conflict in the east of Ukraine
October 2015	EU	Easing Sanctions on Space Enterprises	The need for the implementation of European space programs
November 2015	G20 countries	Extension of sanctions for six months	Local elections in Ukraine and Donbass
December 2015	USA	Banks, NPFs of Russia, wine-making companies of Crimea	Assistance in interfering in the internal affairs of Ukraine

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2016

date of	Who introduced	Against who	Named reason
March 2016	USA, Canada, Ukraine	Extension of US sanctions indefinitely; expansion of the lists of individuals and organizations	Russia's actions in Ukraine; criminal cases against Nadezhda Savchenko, Oleg Sentsov and Alexander Kolchenko
July 2016	USA	Cancellation of part of the sanctions against Crimea; tightening of individual measures	Unrecognized status of Crimea
August 2016	Ukraine	Expansion of the sanctions list by 250 individuals and 46 legal entities	Threats to the security of Ukraine
September 2016	USA, EU		Conflict in Ukraine
November 2016	USA, Switzerland, Canada	State Duma deputies from Crimea	Ukrainian crisis, non-recognition of the transfer of Crimea to the Russian Federation
December 2016	USA	FSB, GRU, expulsion of 35 diplomats	Cyber ​​attacks on the US electoral system by Russia, harassment of American diplomats in Moscow by the Russian authorities

2017

date of	Who introduced	Against who	Named reason
January 2017	USA	Extension of sanctions for a year	Situation in Crimea and Ukraine
June 2017	USA, EU,	Expansion of the sanctions list; extension of existing sanctions	The inefficiency of the Minsk agreements
August 2017	USA, EU	Toughening of the sanctions regime; opposition to the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline	Conflict in Ukraine, deliveries of Siemens turbines to Crimea
October 2017	USA	Prohibition of cooperation in the raw materials and energy sector	The inefficiency of the Minsk agreements; cyber attacks
November 2017	Canada	30 citizens of the Russian Federation	Law on Victims of Corrupt Foreign Governments

2018

date of	Who introduced	Against who	Named reason
January 2018	USA	Adding citizens of Russia and Ukraine (DNR/LNR) to the black lists; publication of the "Kremlin report"	Communication with the top leadership of the Russian Federation
March 2018	USA, Canada, EU, Norway, Ukraine	Employees of law enforcement agencies of Russia; expulsion of Russian diplomats	US election interference; cyber attacks; the case of the poisoning of ex-GRU officer Sergei Skripal
April 2018	USA	Owners and managers big business RF	Cooperation with the Government of the Russian Federation
May 2018	USA	Russian defense enterprises	Violation of national legislation on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
June 2018	USA	Expansion of the sanctions list by IT companies	Communication with Russian special services
July 2018	EU	Companies involved in the construction of the Crimean bridge	Violation of the legislation of Ukraine and international norms

It should be noted that for most of the reasons for the imposition of sanctions indicated in the tables, the position of official representatives of the Russian authorities is fundamentally different. For example, Russia categorically denies interference in the internal affairs of Ukraine, interference in US elections, involvement in the poisoning of Sergei Skripal, etc.

Sanctions are regularly updated, reviewed and extended, and the list of sanctions is expanded quite often. In 2018, a significant expansion of sanctions in connection with the Skripal case is expected, and their coverage will be significant.

The first reaction of the Russian authorities to the sanctions is personal restrictions for a number of individuals who are pursuing an anti-Russian policy and support the sanctions imposed against Russia. This was a response to the ban on Russian public figures from entering the United States, Canada and the EU countries.

The next step is the introduction of so-called food counter-sanctions. The import of food products from an extensive list from the countries of the European Union was banned. This was done in order to provide an asymmetric response to the sanctions imposed against Russia, as well as to support Russian producers and manufacturers of countries Customs Union(later - EAEU).

From counter-sanctions, an import substitution policy was formed (primarily in the field of food production). This solution had both advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages	disadvantages
the policy of import substitution and counter-sanctions reduced competition in the Russian food market; there are benefits and other incentives for Russian farmers; reduced dependence on food imports	at the beginning of the implementation of the import substitution policy, prices increased significantly, including for domestic products; the quality of Russian products still lags behind imported analogues; controversial measures to combat smuggling (destruction of products); "fictitious" import of European products under the guise of Belarusian

In addition to the food embargo, other restrictive measures were taken, including the suspension of an agreement with the United States on the disposal of weapons-grade plutonium; introduced visa restrictions for a number of US citizens.

In general, the counter-sanctions imposed by Russia serve not only as a response to the EU and the US, but also involve measures to support the domestic economy.

Consequences of sanctions and counter-sanctions

It is rather difficult to assess the impact of sanctions on the Russian economy - since 2014, the country has all the signs of a crisis, which is caused by various reasons.

The sanctions are aimed at the oil and gas, financial and defense sectors of the economy and include the freezing of part of assets abroad, restricting access to capital markets, and increased control over Russian goods. At the same time, the economy was extremely negatively affected by the more than halving of the price of crude oil, which caused a strong depreciation of the Russian ruble.

The so-called "Magnitsky List" was adopted in the United States simultaneously with the repeal of the Jackson-Vanik amendment. A related law established sanctions against Russian officials involved or even simply related (according to the US) to the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

The list includes several dozen names of officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the FSB, the Federal Tax Service, the Arbitration Court, the Prosecutor General and the Federal Penitentiary Service. They were banned from entering the United States, and their monetary and property assets, if any, were frozen. All conclusions about the involvement of certain persons were made without investigation and without trial.

Sergei Magnitsky was a witness and defendant in the economic crimes case of the Hermitage Capital Management fund. During the investigation, he died in the Matrosskaya Tishina detention center under unknown circumstances. After repeated checks by Russian law enforcement officers, no violations were found, and this death was recognized as an accident.

In December 2012, Russia adopted a retaliatory package of measures against the United States, and more precisely against American officials involved in violations of the rights and freedoms of citizens of the Russian Federation. This initiative was unofficially called the Dima Yakovlev Law, after a foster child from Russia who died in the United States due to the negligence of his parents. One of the main points of the law was the ban on the adoption of Russian children by US citizens, which was justified by the large number of deaths of adopted children from Russia, as well as the unwillingness of the US authorities to investigate these cases and punish those responsible.

Nuclear Weapons Sanctions (2016-present)

2016

In July 2016, the US imposed sanctions on dozens of foreign enterprises, including five Russian defense enterprises. According to the US authorities, these companies violate the American law on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons against Iran, North Korea and Syria.

2017

March 25, 2017. The United States imposed sanctions on eight companies from Russia under the American law on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction regarding Syria, Iran and North Korea.

Sanctions in connection with the Ukrainian crisis

Russia and the countries that imposed sanctions against it in connection with the Ukrainian crisis

Previous events:

Coup d'état in Ukraine

Reunification of Crimea with Russia

War in the Southeast

The sanctions imposed in connection with the Ukrainian crisis are the largest in the history of Russia in terms of the number of participating countries. The sanctions were initiated by the United States, whose main goal was to isolate Russia on the world stage and strike at the resurgent Russian economy. Later, under the most powerful American economic and political pressure, the European Union joined the restrictive measures, although some European countries spoke out against such measures. Everyone understood that not only Russia would suffer, but also the countries of the West, which are closely connected with Russia. economic ties. The sanctions were also supported by US satellite countries such as Australia, Japan, Canada, as well as EU candidate countries.

The measures taken limit the access of Russian banks and companies to the EU capital market, and also affect the Russian raw material sector, aircraft industry and the defense complex. Lists of Russian citizens were also compiled, who, according to the West, were involved in the events in Ukraine. Those on these “black lists” are prohibited from visiting countries that have imposed sanctions. In addition, the capitals and assets belonging to these persons, if any, are subject to freezing.

What exactly is the involvement of Russia, no one could clearly justify. There was no evidence of a Russian military invasion, arms supplies or other activities that would destabilize the situation in Ukraine, while the fact that the situation was destabilized as a result of financial and political support for Euromaidan by Western countries is quite obvious.

It is noteworthy that a new package of restrictive measures was adopted immediately after the start of the Minsk truce, at which, with the mediation of Russia, it was possible to achieve an almost complete cessation of hostilities in the Donbass and a partial withdrawal of troops. This fact finally confirmed that the anti-Russian sanctions were introduced not for the sake of Ukraine, but against Russia, in the hope of exacerbating the protest political processes within the country, during which the government would be replaced by a more acceptable one for the United States.

2014 US sanctions

The United States introduced the first restrictive list of high-ranking Russian and Ukrainian politicians who are prohibited from entering US territory, and their finances and property are blocked if they are in American jurisdiction. Washington said that sanctions would be expanded if Russia does not stop trying to destabilize the situation. In other words, Russia was required not to interfere in the Ukrainian coup, although the United States and the European Union themselves actively supported the overthrow of the legitimate power of President Yanukovych. Russian politicians included in the sanctions list ironically stated that they have neither finances nor property outside of Russia, and they are not going to visit the United States. In total, 11 people were included in the list, including the speaker of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Crimea Vladimir Konstantinov, the legitimate President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and the Prime Minister of Crimea Sergey Aksyonov. On the same day, the EU countries agreed to impose similar sanctions. Their list includes politicians from Russia and Crimea (21 people in total).

Canada, following the US, introduced visa restrictions for high-ranking representatives of Russia and Crimea. Earlier, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has already announced that Canada is suspending military cooperation with Russia.

After the completion of the reunification of Crimea with Russia, the US authorities, who did not expect such a development of events, hastily add 19 more Russian citizens to the sanctions list. They included several businessmen who are not related to politics. According to the State Department, they are close to Vladimir Putin. Thus, the US authorities planned to put pressure on the President of Russia through his entourage.

The European Union, following the United States, moved to the second level of sanctions. The new list includes 12 citizens of Russia and Ukraine. Among them are Dmitry Rogozin, Sergey Glazyev, Valentina Matvienko, Sergey Naryshkin, Elena Mizulina, Vladislav Surkov, Dmitry Kiselev.

Canada has expanded its sanctions list to include several more Russian citizens. They included State Duma deputies Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Alexei Pushkov.

The United States imposed a package of sanctions against the Crimean oil and gas company Chernomorneftegaz and added a number of Crimean officials to the sanctions list.

The US authorities once again expanded their sanctions list by 7 citizens and 17 state-owned companies of the Russian Federation. The White House, without any evidence, accused Russia of non-compliance with the "Geneva Conventions", as well as of fomenting a conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Canada has introduced a package of anti-Russian sanctions, it includes 16 Russian banks and legal entities. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said the new restrictions are due to Russia's occupation of Crimea. Harper does not take into account the will of the Crimeans themselves.

On the same day, the EU added 15 more Russian citizens to its restrictive list.

The EU expanded the sanctions list by another 13 people, and also froze the assets of two companies from Sevastopol and Crimea - Feodosia and Chernomorneftegaz.

Canada has imposed additional sanctions against 6 Russian citizens. They included Chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov and Commander of the Armed Forces of the Donetsk People's Republic Igor Strelkov.

Canada has imposed additional economic sanctions and expanded its restrictive list by 11 citizens of the Russian Federation.

The United States expanded the sanctions list with Russian citizens who were previously included in the EU restrictive list. In addition, the sanctions extended to the DNR and LNR.

Also, a new package of sanctions was introduced against Russian defense and raw material enterprises: Almaz-Antey, Uralvagonzavod, NPO Mashinostroeniya, Kalashnikov Concern (formerly Izhmash), Constellation, Radioelectronic Technologies (KRET), Bazalt , Instrument Design Bureau, Rosneft, Novatek, Feodosia oil terminal, Vnesheconombank, Gazprombank. Sanctions against Russian banks prevent them from receiving US loans for more than 90 days.

Canada repeated the actions of the United States and introduced a package of sanctions against Russian defense and raw materials enterprises.

The EU expanded its sanctions list by another 15 names and 18 legal entities. Among them are the head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov and Deputy Secretary of the Security Council Boris Gryzlov.

The EU said it had agreed on a new package of restrictive measures that would come into force on 1 August.

The US Treasury has imposed sanctions against several Russian banks and the United Shipbuilding Corporation of the Russian Federation.

The EU released the names of 8 people and 3 legal entities that were included in the sanctions list a day earlier. Among them are the head of the Crimean Interior Ministry and several Russian businessmen.

Canada has expanded the sanctions list by another 19 citizens of Russia and Ukraine and 5 of the largest Russian banks. The list also includes a number of persons from the authorities of the DPR and LPR, as well as the commanders of the military units of the Vostok militia and the Army of the South-East. Affected by Canadian sanctions and large corporations of the Crimea.

Norway joined the sanctions against Russia, supporting the EU restrictive package of July 31st.

The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a law on sanctions against Russia, which allows the introduction of more than 20 restrictive measures, one of which is the termination of the transit of energy resources. A list of 172 individuals and 65 legal entities was also compiled, against which it is proposed to introduce personal restrictive measures.

The EU has unveiled new sanctions against Russia, against the backdrop of the relative success of the Minsk truce. This step seemed absolutely absurd and illogical to a number of experts. The new package limited Russian companies' access to EU financial capital, while loans to individuals and companies will be issued for a period of no more than 30 days. In addition, 24 more citizens of the Russian Federation were included in the EU banned list. Thus, in total, 119 people were included in the individual sanctions list.

Canada has introduced a new package of sanctions against Russian scientific enterprises and banned loans to Russian companies for more than 30 days.

The US Senate passed a law on sanctions against Russia, which allows the President of the country to impose new sanctions in order to put pressure on Russia. Barack Obama signed this law on December 18, but said that the new restrictive measures would not be applied yet.

The EU has adopted a new package of sanctions against Crimea, which will come into force on December 20. After this date, all investments in Crimea and Sevastopol are considered illegal.

The United States and Canada, following the EU, introduced a package of sanctions against Crimea and Sevastopol with the aim of a complete financial and economic blockade of the peninsula. All exports of services, technologies and goods were banned, and American investors will not be able to conduct any activity in Crimea. The new package also gives the US Treasury Secretary the power to apply sanctions against individuals and companies operating in Crimea. It is noteworthy that shortly before this, Obama said that the sanctions imposed on Cuba did not bring results and harmed the States themselves (the sanctions against Cuba were in effect for more than half a century, since 1960). Thus, the president recognized the policy of sanctions as erroneous, but did not refuse new restrictions against Russia.

The EU countries agreed to extend the anti-Russian sanctions imposed in March 2014 until December 2015.

Greece forced to remove the phrase about a new package of anti-Russian sanctions from the statement of the EU foreign ministers. However, the foreign ministers of the EU countries had previously agreed to extend the already imposed sanctions against Russia for six months. It soon became known that Russia would consider providing financial assistance to Greece.

2015 US sanctions

The EU, despite the peace agreements on Ukraine signed in Minsk, expanded the sanctions list by 19 individuals and 9 legal entities, of which 5 are Russian citizens. Of the citizens of Novorossia, the list includes the well-known militiaman Arseniy Pavlov with the call sign "Motorola", as well as the commander-in-chief of the "people's militia" of the LPR Sergey Ignatov and the Minister of Justice of the LPR Alexander Shubin.

US President Barack Obama extended his March 6, 2014 executive order declaring a state of emergency for Russia. According to his statement, Russia, with its position on the Ukrainian crisis, creates a situation in which there is an "unusual and extraordinary threat to US security and foreign policy." Thus, the effect of US sanctions against the Russian Federation has been extended for another year. But as before, no specific claims or evidence of the presence of the Russian military on the territory of Donbass have been presented.

Switzerland, against the backdrop of the extension of anti-Russian sanctions by the United States and a relative truce in Novorossiya, added 28 more citizens of the Russian Federation to the sanctions black list. New restrictive measures come into force from 18:00 on the same day. Earlier, Switzerland supported the EU sanctions adopted on August 27, 2014 against Crimea and Sevastopol, which prohibit any investment activity in the region.

The United States expanded the sanctions blacklist of citizens on the Ukrainian crisis by another 14 persons, 5 of which are citizens of the Russian Federation, the rest are citizens of Ukraine representing the government of Viktor Yanukovych and the self-proclaimed republics of the DPR and LPR. In addition, sanctions were imposed on the Russian organization Eurasian Youth Union and its three leaders (Alexander Dugin, Pavel Kaniischev, Andrey Kovalenko), as well as the Russian National Commercial Bank (RNCB), which operates in Crimea. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in comments on the new sanctions said that they are primarily related to Russia's withdrawal from the ad hoc advisory group on CFE.

The Council of the European Union decided to extend sanctions against Russia until September 15, 2015. The decision comes into force on March 14. In total, for this moment, restrictions apply to 150 individuals and 37 organizations. See list.

Australia has imposed a new package of economic sanctions against Russia. According to the country's leadership, restrictive measures completely repeat the sanctions of the European Union and the United States adopted in 2014. The restrictions apply to the import or export of weapons, the supply of equipment for oil production, as well as limited investment in the Crimea and Sevastopol.

Rosfinmonitoring has imposed banking sanctions against 41 countries - banks are required to report all transactions of clients who are residents of countries that have adopted anti-Russian sanctions, support terrorism and do not fight corruption.

Norway, following the European Union, expanded the sanctions list against Russian and Ukrainian citizens by 19 individuals and 9 legal entities.] 5 Russians are included in the new edition of the "black list", this is Deputy. Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Anatoly Antonov, First Deputy. Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Arkady Bakhin, deputies of the State. Duma Iosif Kobzon and Valery Rashkin, as well as the head of the main operational department of the Russian General Staff Andrey Kartapolov.

The United States opened access to free web services to residents of Crimea, which was limited with the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions. The ban will be lifted on a number of online features such as: instant messaging, chats and email, social media, sharing photos and movies, browsing the web and blogs, but only on the condition that such services are available at no charge to the user.

European sanctions against Russia have been extended until January 31, 2016. In response, Russia extended its retaliatory restrictions against countries that adopted sanctions for a year.

Six more European countries joined the extension of anti-Russian sanctions on June 22, 2015, these are Albania, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Montenegro and Ukraine. Also, Georgia joined the restrictions against Crimea on June 19.

The US has imposed a new package of sanctions against another 11 citizens of Russia and Ukraine, as well as 15 companies. According to the US authorities, this is due to the activities of these individuals in the Crimean region. Among legal entities, Finnish and Cypriot companies also fell under the new sanctions, which caused some misunderstanding between these countries and the United States.

The US has imposed new sanctions against Russian companies. The "black list" includes the Tula Instrument Design Bureau, the Katod company, NPO Mashinostroeniya, the MiG corporation, and Rosoboronexport. At the same time, the EU countries decided to extend sanctions against the Russian Federation until March, and the National Security Council of Ukraine expanded the list of persons against whom sanctions are imposed.

Ukraine has introduced a new package of sanctions against Russia for a period of one year. The banned list includes 400 individuals and 90 legal entities from Russia and partially other countries. Russian airlines Aeroflot, its three subsidiaries Donavia, Orenburg Airlines and Rossiya, as well as a dozen others that have been sanctioned, will not be able to fly to Ukraine from October 25.

The European Union has softened some of the anti-Russian sanctions against Russian space enterprises necessary for the EU to implement its space program.

Reuters news agency reported that Western leaders agreed at the G20 summit in Turkey to extend sanctions against Russia for six months.

The US has imposed a new package of sanctions against Russia. Under restrictive measures were 34 individuals and legal entities from Russia and Ukraine, who, according to the US authorities, are involved or assisted in interfering in the internal affairs of Ukraine. The list includes subsidiaries of VTB Bank and Sberbank abroad, non-state pension funds (NPFs) of Sberbank, VTB, VTB24 Bank, as well as wine companies from Crimea and the Yalta Film Studio.

2016 US sanctions

US President Barack Obama has extended sanctions against Russia over the Ukrainian crisis indefinitely. The executive order said Russia's actions in Ukraine continue to pose "an extraordinary and extraordinary threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy."

Canada has expanded the list of anti-Russian sanctions by fourteen companies and five individuals, whose assets will be frozen, and entry into the country is prohibited.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a decree on the entry into force of sanctions against Russians who are involved in the cases of Ukrainian pilot Nadezhda Savchenko, as well as director Oleg Sentsov and his accomplice Alexander Kolchenko.

The United States lifted part of the sanctions against Crimea for the first time.

A bill providing for tougher sanctions against Russia has been approved by a committee of the US House of Representatives.

Ukraine added 250 more individuals and 46 legal entities from Russia to its sanctions list.

The US government has expanded the list of Russian individuals and entities subject to unilateral US economic sanctions due to the conflict in Ukraine. The list of individuals and companies to which various kinds of restrictions will apply has been replenished with 17 names and 19 companies.

The US Department of Commerce has expanded the list of Russian companies subject to sanctions. According to some reports, the new restrictive measures will affect 81 companies and organizations, of which 7 are located in Crimea. At the same time, the US authorities lifted part of the sanctions against Rosoboronexport, which affect contracts for Maintenance Mi-17 helicopters in Afghanistan.

The EU authorities once again extended sanctions against 146 citizens and 37 legal entities of Russia and Ukraine.

The United States has imposed new personal sanctions against Russian citizens in connection with the Ukrainian crisis. Six State Duma deputies from Crimea fell under restrictive measures: Ruslan Balbek, Konstantin Bakharev, Andrey Kozenko, Pavel Shperov, Dmitry Belik and Svetlana Savchenko.

Switzerland has extended personal sanctions against Russian citizens in connection with the Ukrainian crisis. The new restrictive list includes six people who are deputies of the State Duma of the VII convocation from Crimea and Sevastopol.

Canada imposed sanctions against 6 Russian State Duma deputies from Crimea. The statement says that the Canadian authorities consider this territory, together with Sevastopol, "annexed" and do not recognize it as part of Russia.

US President Barack Obama imposed sanctions against the FSB, the GRU, a number of other Russian organizations, as well as six individuals, explaining this by alleged cyber attacks on the US electoral system by Russia. The United States also decided to expel 35 Russian diplomats and close access to two facilities used by Russian workers(in New York and Maryland) - according to the US representative, this was done in response to "the campaign of harassment of American diplomats in Moscow by the Russian authorities."

2017 US sanctions

The current US President Barack Obama signed a decree extending sanctions against Russia for a year due to the situation in the Crimea and Ukraine.

The United States has once again expanded the list of anti-Russian sanctions. 19 organizations and 19 people from Russia and Donbass fell under the restrictions, including Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Sergey Nazarov.

The European Union officially extended economic sanctions against Russia for six months "due to its insufficient implementation of the Minsk agreements."

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree extending the response to Western sanctions until December 31, 2018.

US President Donald Trump signed a law on toughening the sanctions regime against three countries: Russia, Iran and North Korea. The document was the result of the active and long work of members of both parties in Congress, it was adopted by an overwhelming number of votes. The restrictions will affect cooperation between the Armed Forces of Russia and the United States, as well as the special services and military-industrial complexes of the two countries, the receipt by the Russian economy, primarily energy companies, loan funds in the West. The text also included a provision that US policy should, among other things, oppose the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Individuals investing in the energy sector in Russia may also be blacklisted. In addition, the law obliges the presidential administration to submit reports on Russia to Congress within six months, and then annually, including the identification of all significant political and economic actors within Russia , the amount of their assets, their foreign business connections, the impact on the US economy. The report will indicate the possible consequences of imposing sanctions on each of these entities or individuals.

The European Union has expanded the list of anti-Russian sanctions due to the scandal with the supply of Siemens turbines to the Crimea. Three Russian citizens and three companies have been added to the list of persons subject to restrictive measures.

The US Department of the Treasury has introduced further restrictive measures against Russia, banning individuals and legal entities in its jurisdiction from cooperating with companies from the Russian Federation in deep-sea, Arctic and shale energy projects. The ban applies to all individuals and legal entities that the United States has already added or may add to the list of anti-Russian sanctions.

The Canadian government has imposed sanctions against 30 Russian citizens. As noted in the document, restrictive measures are associated with the law "On the victims of corrupt foreign governments", which is similar to the American "Magnitsky act".

US sanctions 2018

The United States has expanded sanctions against Russia due to the situation in Ukraine. The blacklist included 21 citizens of Russia and Ukraine (mostly from the unrecognized republics of the LPR and DPR), as well as 21 companies.

The US Treasury published an unclassified part of the “Kremlin Report”, which included representatives of the presidential administration, including Dmitry Peskov and Vladislav Surkov, as well as Russian businessmen. In total, the list included the names of 210 people divided into 4 parts - "Presidential Administration", "Cabinet of Ministers", "Other high-ranking political leaders" and "Oligarchs". The list also includes all members of the Russian government, including Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

The United States has expanded sanctions against Russia. The restrictions were introduced in accordance with the Countering America's Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), passed last year. The list includes individuals and companies accused by Washington of interfering in US elections. In total, 13 people and three companies were included in this list. Also under the restrictions were the FSB and the GRU and six employees of these departments, whom Washington considers responsible for the attack of the NotPetya virus. The assets of the persons on the list will be frozen in the United States, and citizens and permanent residents of the country will be prohibited from doing business with them.

The United States, Canada, Norway, Albania, Macedonia, Ukraine and 14 EU countries (France, Poland, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Estonia, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, Romania, Croatia and Latvia) expel a number of Russian diplomats under the pretext of a case of poisoning of ex-GRU officer Sergei Skripal. The United States will have to leave sixty people (48 employees of the diplomatic mission and another 12 employees of the UN mission). In addition, Washington is closing the Russian Consulate General in Seattle. This step was explained in the White House by the "proximity of the Consulate General to one of the submarine bases."

Washington added 38 Russian businessmen, officials and companies to the list of sanctions. The list includes businessmen Oleg Deripaska and Igor Rotenberg, as well as the head of Gazprom Alexei Miller, Secretary of the Security Council Nikolai Patrushev, head of VTB Andrei Kostin, head of Roskomnadzor Alexander Zharov, director of the National Guard Viktor Zolotov and others. In total - seven Russian businessmen and 17 officials. The list was supplemented by 14 companies, 12 of which are private (Agroholding Kuban, B-Finance Limited, EN + Group, Renova, Gazprom Burenie, EnPiVi Engineering, Ladoga Management, GAZ, Rusal) , "Basic Element", "Eurosibenergo", "Russian Machines"), two - state-owned ("Rosoboronexport" and "Russian Financial Corporation")