Sanctions against Russia have been a complex and ever-changing US-led effort. Some other countries, most prominently the EU, have also enacted sanctions, but there is not a single set of sanctions that everyone is following. The US, however, does have the power to use economic pressure путем давления на банки, чтобы они не проводили санкционированные транзакции с российскими банками, например, исключая их из операций с американскими банками (by pressuring banks from making sanctioned transaction with Russian banks, for instance, by potentially excluding them from transactions with US banks) to try to enforce sanctions on a wider basis. Likewise, the US can use diplomatic pressure to help enforce sanctions. Countries that have some form of sanctions enacted against Russia include the US, Canada, Japan, Moldova, Iceland, Montenegro, Ukraine, Australia, Georgia, Switzerland, Norway, and French Guiana.
Sanctions on Russia, 2014
On March 6th, 2014, экономические санкции против России были введены (economic sanctions on Russia were imposed) after President Obama signed an исполнительный приказ (Executive Order) which объявил чрезвычайное положение (declared a national emergency). The emergency was described as such: “действия и политика людей – включая людей, которые взяли в свои руки власть в регионе Крыма без разрешения правительства Украины…” (actions and policies of persons – including persons who have asserted governmental authority in the Crimean region without the authorization of the Government of Ukraine…) “составляют необычную и чрезвычайную угрозу национальной безопасности и внешней политике Соединенных Штатов” (constitute an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States).
By Executive Order 1360, были введены ограничения на въезд в США и на пользование находящимися в США финансовыми средствами определенных лиц (restrictions were put in place on entry to the USA and froze the US-based financial assets of certain individuals).
On March 17, the USA, European Union and Canada additionally ввели санкции по отношению к России (imposed sanctions on Russia) a day after референдум о статусе Крыма (the referendum on the status of Crimea) and референдум о статусе Севастополя (the referendum on the status of Sevastopol) were held, where, according to the official results, more than 80 percent of Crimean voters agreed on вхождение Крыма в состав России в качестве субъекта Российской Федерации (the integration of Crimea with Russia as an entity of the Russian Federation). The vote was criticized abroad for the speed with which it was organized, the fact that Russian military were on the ground at the time, and other reasons.
The EU and Canada запретили въезд на свою территорию определенных лиц (banned certain individuals from entering their territories). These individuals, according to the sanctions declaration from the EU and Canada, были ответственными за действия, которые подрывают территориальную целостность Украины” (“were responsible for actions which undermine the territorial integrity of Ukraine”).
“Черный список США” (the US black list) included 27 people – депутаты Госдумы, сенаторы, бизнесмены, два лидера новой власти в Крыму (Duma deputies, senators, businessmen, the two new leaders of Crimea’s two districts). The EU black list included 33 persons, some are the same as in the US list, but also included Russian TV host Dmitry Kiselev and more people from Crimea’s new government.
Japan also soon объявила санкции против России. (announced sanctions on Russia). These were diplomatic declarations that called for the приостановку переговоров относительно военных вопросов, космоса, инвестиций и требований к визам (suspension of talks regarding military matters, space, investment, and visa requirements).
On the 19th of March, the Australian government ввело целевые финансовые санкции и запреты на поездки (imposed targeted financial sanctions and travel bans) on some Russian individuals.
All this was just the first round of sanctions. A second round followed on 28 April. The US объявило о том, что оно расширяет санкции (announced it was expanding the sanctions) and added seven Russian officials, including Rosneft President Igor Sechin and TV host and Duma Deputy Alexei Pushkov, and banned business transactions with seventeen Russian companies.
On the same day, the European Union issued travel bans against fifteen more individuals and made a statement that “санкции не являются карательными, но нацелены на создание изменений в политике или деятельности страны, на которую они нацелены, предприятий или частных лиц” (“sanctions are not punitive, but designed to bring about a change in policy or activity by the target country, entities or individuals”). Both the USA and the EU stated they would not issue export licenses for products destined for Russia which может помочь российскому военному потенциалу (might bolster Russia’s military capabilities).
The third round of sanctions commenced on the 17 July when the United States ввели первые санкции в отношении ключевых секторов российской экономики (imposed the first sanction on the key sectors of the Russian economy), imposing sanctions on major Russian companies such as Rosneft, Novatek oil company, state-owned banks Vnesheconombank and Gazprombank, as well as on a number of предприятия российского оборонно-промышленного комплекса (enterprises of Russian military and industrial complex), such as Kalashnikov Concern and Almaz-Antei Corporation (which makes anti-aircraft systems). Soon, in July, the EU expanded its sanctions to an additional 18 individuals and 21 entities, including imposing restrictions on all major government-owned Russian banks and to the Russian energy and defense industries.
On August 6, the USA запретили поставку в Россию оборудования для глубинной добычи нефти (prohibited supply to Russia of equipment for deep water oil drilling), as well as equipment for разработки арктического шельфа и сланцевых запасов нефти и газа, (development of Arctic shelf and shale reserves of oil and gas) alongside banning supplies of other advanced technologies in oil and gas drilling.
In July-August, 2014, Canada, Japan, Norway, Switzerland, and Ukraine imposed sanctions on their own list of major Russian oil and gas producing companies and state-owned banks.
On September 12, the USA imposed further sanctions on oil major oil and gas drilling corporations in Russia, such as Gazprom, Lukoil, Transneft, Gazpromneft, Surgutneftegaz, Novatek, and Rosneft. Американским компаниям запрещено поставлять им товары и технологии, необходимые для освоения месторождений нефти на глубоководных участках и арктическом шельфе, а также в сланцевых пластах. (US companies are banned from supplying them products and technologies which are required for development of oil fields in deep-water areas, and on Arctic shelf, as well as in shale formations)
Also, on the same day, был введен запрет (a ban was introduced) on giving loans to major Russian banks such as Sberbank, Bank of Moscow, Vnesheconombank and Rosneft and Gazprom companies – американским гражданам и компаниям запрещено покупать облигации этих банков и корпораций со сроками обращения свыше 30 дней, а также предоставлять им кредиты. (US citizens and companies are banned from buying bonds of these banks and corporations with a maturity date of more than 30 days after purchase, as well as giving them loans) RBC agency states that таким образом, санкции США затронули более 90% российского нефтяного сектора и почти всю российскую газодобычу. (thus, the US sanctions affected more than 90% of the Russian oil sector and almost all Russian natural gas production)
The US again expanded sanctions in December 2014 by запретили вывоз, реэкспорт, продажу или поставку из США или гражданами США каких-либо товаров, услуг или технологии в Крым. (prohibited the shipment, re-export, sale, or supply of any products, services or technology to Crimea from the USA or via US citizens) Canada and the EU enacted similar sanctions.
Некоторые санкции были сняты (Some sanctions were lifted) over the last two years. Some have been simply redefined to exclude certain things. For instance, the first round of US sanctions caused widespread confusion in the business community. It was feared that any transaction with any entity even partly owned or controlled by the individuals named was now sanctioned.
Among other instances, Visa and Mastercard shut down operations with numerous Russian banks, leaving Russian consumers without access to ATMs or point of sale transactions. The backlash from the Russian government and public was swift and loud and the US quickly clarified that such commercial transactions could continue. In September 2014, Canada исключила два российских банка из санкционного списка (excluded two Russian banks from the sanction list). The USA отменили санкционные ограничения (cancelled sanction limitations) on Turkish DenizBank owned by Sberbank in October 2014. In 2015, after banning all transactions in Crimea shut down Visa and Mastercard there, sanctions were clarified to allow some bank transactions for residents of Crimea. At that time, Crimeans were also allowed to use American social networks (which had also shut down in Crimea because of the broad sanctions).
Sanctions by Russia
The following bilingual Russian MiniLesson is meant to build your vocabulary by providing Russian phrases within English text. Hover over the bold Russian to reveal its English translation.
In response to sanctions placed on it by other countries, Russia has implemented a number of counter-sanctions. Many of these have been controversial.
The sanctions include составление списка лиц, которым запрещен въезд на территорию России (making a list of people for whom entering Russia is banned), mainly US and EU politicians who were especially arduous in implementing sanctions on Russia.
Продуктовые санкции (foodstuff sanctions) were also imposed by presidential decree on August 6, 2014. Thus, the Russian government ввело годовой запрет на импорт говядины, свинины, овощей и фруктов, мяса птицы, рыбы, сыров, молока и большинства видов молочных продуктов из США, стран Евросоюза, Канады, Австралии и Норвегии. (imposed a one-year ban on the import of beef, pork, vegetables and fruit, poultry, fish, cheeses, milk and most types of dairy products from the USA, the European Union countries, Canada, Australia, and Norway). These countries had imposed sanctions on Russia.
Russia later expanded its sanctions to include запрет на импорт арахиса из США (a ban on importing peanuts from the US). Later, Russia added запрет на импорт живой птицы из США (a ban on importing live poultry from the US) after it was discovered that importers had switched from importing meat to importing live birds and then slaughtering them in Russia. Further, on June 4, 2015 вступил в силу запрет на импорт рыбных консервов из Латвии и Эстонии (a ban came into force on the importation of canned fish from Latvia and Estonia).
On June 24, 2015, President Putin подписал указ о продлении продовольственного эмбарго до 5 августа 2016 года (signed a decree on extending food embargo until August 5, 2016). The bans were initially only to last one year.
Meanwhile, sanctions were also clarified to allow some foodstuffs to be выведены из-под санкций (removed from the scope of sanctions): биологически активные добавки, спортивное, детское и лечебно-профилактическое питание (в том числе безлактозная продукция), мальки лосося и форели, молодь устриц и мидий, а также семенной картофель, лук-севок, сахарная свекла и горох для посева (biologically active dietary supplements, sport, baby and therapeutic-and-prophylactic food (including lactose-free products), newly-hatched salmon and trout, whitebait oysters and mussels, as well as seed potatoes, onions sets, seed sugar beets, and peas for planting). These are things which, it was judged, the Russian market does not currently supply enough of and were needed in significant supply immediately.
Starting from September 1, 2014, the Russian authorities ограничили государственные закупки товаров лёгкой промышленности у иностранных поставщиков – ткани, верхнюю одежду, спецодежду, нательное белье, а также одежду из кожи и меха. (limited government procurements of light industry goods from foreign suppliers – fabrics, outerwear, overalls, underwear, as well as leather and fur clothing).
However, despite sanctions, Russia did not succeed in preventing Western foodstuffs from entering Russia, largely because, as Russian officials have stated, Belarusian and Serbian companies organized the реэкспорт запрещенной европейской продукции (re-export of banned European products) by illegally changing the production labels. So, Russia imposed restrictions on food imports from Serbia and Belorussia as well. Russians joked about some instances of this re-exportation. For example, Belarus, a land-locked country, was suddenly exporting large amounts of seafood that it allegedly produced to Russia.
In addition, much produce came to Russia via Belarus без указания страны происхождения (without indication of the country of origin) or with falsified forms с указанием Турции, Сербии, Македонии и ряда африканских стран, в частности Зимбабве (indicating Turkey, Serbia, Macedonia and a number of the African countries, in particular Zimbabwe) which don’t fall under the embargo, as the country of origin. In another case, a St. Petersburg port received several refrigerated containers labeled “chemical goods” which actually contained embargoed meat.
Some food suppliers found loopholes in the embargo regulations. For example, производители сыра из Европы нашли способ обходить эмбарго, ввозя свою продукцию под видом безлактозной. (manufacturers of cheese from Europe found a way to bypass embargo by sending lactose-free versions of their products). According to the Federal Taxation Service, import of lactose-free cheese grew by 750% in 2014 as compared to 2013.
According to the Russian Customs Service, only about 10% of all illegal shipments were stopped. Citing this, in the fall of 2015, the Russian authorities started уничтожение ввозимых в РФ подсанкционных товаров (destroying sanctioned goods brought to Russia). Before this, any shipments were returned to the owner, at cost to Russia. The owner often then made a second attempt to export his/her goods to Russia.
RBC business news agency reports that after the food embargo was imposed, Rosselkhoznadzor (Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance) резко увеличил активность (drastically increased its activity), issuing permissions to Belarussian companies for supplying meat dairy products, and to companies from New Zealand, Argentina, and Nicaragua for supplying meat to Russia. Such licenses give Russia greater oversight of products coming into Russia.
Some experts have been extremely skeptical about possible outcomes of Russia’s embargo. Kommersant newspaper wrote that «торговую войну» ведёт страна, составляющая 3% мирового ВВП против стран общим «весом» в 40 % мирового ВВП, (a country that produces 3% of global GDP is conducting a trade war against countries that jointly produce 40% of global GDP), indicating that Russia is essentially fighting massively more powerful enemy and stands little chance of winning.
At the same time, the foodstuff embargo does not significantly damage the EU countries’ economies, Kommersant reports, because экономика Евросоюза мало зависит от экспорта сельхозпродуктов, их доля в экспорте — менее 5 %. (the economy of the European Union depends very little on export of agricultural products, their share in export is below 5%). Furthermore, экспорт продовольствия в Россию составляет менее 1 % общего экспорта Евросоюза (export of the food to Russia is less than 1% of total exports of the European Union). Many experts assume that Russia was hoping that the disproportionate political sway that farmers have in the EU would help force a dialog on sanctions.
President Putin and others in the Russian government have claimed that the sanctions will give impetus to the development of Russian agriculture and to замена импорта (import substitution). Economists have noted growth in Russian agricultural production and economic activity. However, if this growth would be continued after sanctions are lifted and Russian products once more compete with foreign products is debated.
Sanctions by Russia, 2014
The following bilingual Russian MiniLesson is meant to build your vocabulary by providing Russian phrases within English text. Hover over the bold Russian to reveal its English translation.
In response to sanctions placed on it by other countries, Russia has implemented a number of counter-sanctions. Many of these have been controversial.
The sanctions include составление списка лиц, которым запрещен въезд на территорию России (making a list of people for whom entering Russia is banned), mainly US and EU politicians who were especially arduous in implementing sanctions on Russia.
Продуктовые санкции (foodstuff sanctions) were also imposed by presidential decree on August 6, 2014. Thus, the Russian government ввело годовой запрет на импорт говядины, свинины, овощей и фруктов, мяса птицы, рыбы, сыров, молока и большинства видов молочных продуктов из США, стран Евросоюза, Канады, Австралии и Норвегии. (imposed a one-year ban on the import of beef, pork, vegetables and fruit, poultry, fish, cheeses, milk and most types of dairy products from the USA, the European Union countries, Canada, Australia, and Norway). These countries had imposed sanctions on Russia.
Russia later expanded its sanctions to include запрет на импорт арахиса из США (a ban on importing peanuts from the US). Later, Russia added запрет на импорт живой птицы из США (a ban on importing live poultry from the US) after it was discovered that importers had switched from importing meat to importing live birds and then slaughtering them in Russia. Further, on June 4, 2015 вступил в силу запрет на импорт рыбных консервов из Латвии и Эстонии (a ban came into force on the importation of canned fish from Latvia and Estonia).
On June 24, 2015, President Putin подписал указ о продлении продовольственного эмбарго до 5 августа 2016 года (signed a decree on extending food embargo until August 5, 2016). The bans were initially only to last one year.
Meanwhile, sanctions were also clarified to allow some foodstuffs to be выведены из-под санкций (removed from the scope of sanctions): биологически активные добавки, спортивное, детское и лечебно-профилактическое питание (в том числе безлактозная продукция), мальки лосося и форели, молодь устриц и мидий, а также семенной картофель, лук-севок, сахарная свекла и горох для посева (biologically active dietary supplements, sport, baby and therapeutic-and-prophylactic food (including lactose-free products), newly-hatched salmon and trout, whitebait oysters and mussels, as well as seed potatoes, onions sets, seed sugar beets, and peas for planting). These are things which, it was judged, the Russian market does not currently supply enough of and were needed in significant supply immediately.
Starting from September 1, 2014, the Russian authorities ограничили государственные закупки товаров лёгкой промышленности у иностранных поставщиков – ткани, верхнюю одежду, спецодежду, нательное белье, а также одежду из кожи и меха. (limited government procurements of light industry goods from foreign suppliers – fabrics, outerwear, overalls, underwear, as well as leather and fur clothing).
However, despite sanctions, Russia did not succeed in preventing Western foodstuffs from entering Russia, largely because, as Russian officials have stated, Belarusian and Serbian companies organized the реэкспорт запрещенной европейской продукции (re-export of banned European products) by illegally changing the production labels. So, Russia imposed restrictions on food imports from Serbia and Belorussia as well. Russians joked about some instances of this re-exportation. For example, Belarus, a land-locked country, was suddenly exporting large amounts of seafood that it allegedly produced to Russia.
In addition, much produce came to Russia via Belarus без указания страны происхождения (without indication of the country of origin) or with falsified forms с указанием Турции, Сербии, Македонии и ряда африканских стран, в частности Зимбабве (indicating Turkey, Serbia, Macedonia and a number of the African countries, in particular Zimbabwe) which don’t fall under the embargo, as the country of origin. In another case, a St. Petersburg port received several refrigerated containers labeled “chemical goods” which actually contained embargoed meat.
Some food suppliers found loopholes in the embargo regulations. For example, производители сыра из Европы нашли способ обходить эмбарго, ввозя свою продукцию под видом безлактозной. (manufacturers of cheese from Europe found a way to bypass embargo by sending lactose-free versions of their products). According to the Federal Taxation Service, import of lactose-free cheese grew by 750% in 2014 as compared to 2013.
According to the Russian Customs Service, only about 10% of all illegal shipments were stopped. Citing this, in the fall of 2015, the Russian authorities started уничтожение ввозимых в РФ подсанкционных товаров (destroying sanctioned goods brought to Russia). Before this, any shipments were returned to the owner, at cost to Russia. The owner often then made a second attempt to export his/her goods to Russia.
RBC business news agency reports that after the food embargo was imposed, Rosselkhoznadzor (Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance) резко увеличил активность (drastically increased its activity), issuing permissions to Belarussian companies for supplying meat dairy products, and to companies from New Zealand, Argentina, and Nicaragua for supplying meat to Russia. Such licenses give Russia greater oversight of products coming into Russia.
Some experts have been extremely skeptical about possible outcomes of Russia’s embargo. Kommersant newspaper wrote that «торговую войну» ведёт страна, составляющая 3% мирового ВВП против стран общим «весом» в 40 % мирового ВВП, (a country that produces 3% of global GDP is conducting a trade war against countries that jointly produce 40% of global GDP), indicating that Russia is essentially fighting massively more powerful enemy and stands little chance of winning.
At the same time, the foodstuff embargo does not significantly damage the EU countries’ economies, Kommersant reports, because экономика Евросоюза мало зависит от экспорта сельхозпродуктов, их доля в экспорте — менее 5 %. (the economy of the European Union depends very little on export of agricultural products, their share in export is below 5%). Furthermore, экспорт продовольствия в Россию составляет менее 1 % общего экспорта Евросоюза (export of the food to Russia is less than 1% of total exports of the European Union). Many experts assume that Russia was hoping that the disproportionate political sway that farmers have in the EU would help force a dialog on sanctions.
President Putin and others in the Russian government have claimed that the sanctions will give impetus to the development of Russian agriculture and to замена импорта (import substitution). Economists have noted growth in Russian agricultural production and economic activity. However, if this growth would be continued after sanctions are lifted and Russian products once more compete with foreign products is debated.
