Economy

The sanctions, agreed with the United States, France, Canada, Italy, Great Britain and the European Commission also include limiting the ability of Russia’s central bank to support the rouble.The will also end the “golden passports” for wealthy Russians and their families and will target individuals and institutions in Russia and elsewhere that supports the war against Ukraine, the spokesperson said. “The countries stressed their willingness to take further measures should Russia not end its attack on Ukraine and thus on the European peace order,” he added. More

“We are urgently working on how to limit the collateral damage of decoupling from SWIFT in such a way that it affects the right people. What we need is a targeted and functional restriction of SWIFT,” Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Economy Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement.Germany, which has the EU’s biggest trade flows with Russia, had been reluctant to get on board with cutting off Russia from the world’s main international payments network, saying it must first weigh the economic consequences of such move.Berlin’s change of heart comes as Russian forces continued to pound Kyiv and other cities with artillery and cruise missiles on day three of a campaign that has sent hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing west toward the European Union, clogging major highways and railway lines.The move would hit Russian trade and make it harder for Russian companies to do business. SWIFT is a secure messaging system that facilitates rapid cross-border payments and is the principal mechanism for financing international trade.Earlier on Saturday, Italy, the other European Union member that had voiced reservations over taking such a step, said it would support Russia’s disconnection from the payment system.Greece also joined the EU line on SWIFT and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said his government would not block any planned EU sanctions.”This is the time to be united, it’s a war,” Orban said.The European Union’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said a decision on SWIFT could happen in the “coming days”. More

PARIS (Reuters) – Discussions among European Union members about excluding Russia from the Swift international payment system are close to reaching a successful conclusion, a French presidential official said on Saturday.The official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, said that no EU member state was blocking Russia’s exclusion from the system, but that the talks were still ongoing. More

Further sanctions, including the suspension of Russia’s access to the global SWIFT payment system, could follow. The measures come on top of sanctions already in place since Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.According to the EU, the sanctions are designed “to cripple the Kremlin’s ability to finance the war, impose clear economic and political costs on Russia’s political elite responsible for the invasion and diminish (Russia’s) economic base”.This is a list of the measures imposed so far:BLACKLISTINGSThe EU has blacklisted hundreds of additional people, many of them members of the Russian parliament who voted for the recognition of the breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine. Their bank accounts in the EU are now frozen and they are banned from travelling to the bloc. The most prominent individuals on the blacklist are Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, although they are exempt from the travel ban. This is meant to enable negotiations with them should the opportunity arise.Still, Putin is now one of only three world leaders blacklisted by the EU, along with Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus. The blacklist currently includes 654 individuals and 52 entities in total.SANCTIONS TARGETING FINANCE AND ECONOMYSanctions targeting Russia’s economy are designed to cut the country’s access to EU capital markets, increase borrowing costs for those sanctioned and gradually erode its industrial base. They include an asset freeze and financial ban on three key Russian banks, add more state-owned companies to the sanctions list and ban Russian elites from depositing money in EU banks. The sanctions also prohibit any form of lending and buying of securities by Russian banks and government, including the Russian central bank. Seventy percent of the Russian banking system (measured by assets), government and key state-owned companies will no longer be able to refinance in the EU’s capital markets, according to EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen.ENERGY SECTORThe sanctions ban the export of specific refining technologies, making it harder and more expensive for Russia to modernise its oil refineries. They add to an existing oil equipment ban imposed in 2014. Russia earned 24 billion euros in 2019 from refined oil exports to the EU, according to the bloc.TRANSPORT SECTORThe EU has banned the export, sale, supply or transfer of all aircraft, aircraft parts and equipment to Russia as well as all services related to the repair, maintenance and financing of aircraft. Three-quarters of Russia’s commercial air fleet were built in the EU, United States and Canada, according to the EU. The sanctions mean that “Russia will not be able to maintain its fleet to international standards”, the EU said.DUAL-USE GOODS AND ADVANCED TECHNOLOGYThe EU has toughened existing sanctions on goods that can be used for civilian as well as military purposes, targeting Russia’s military-industrial complex and limiting its access to advanced technology such as drones and software for drones, software for encryption devices, semiconductors and advanced electronics. These measures are meant to downgrade Russia’s technological capabilities over time.DIPLOMAT VISASRussian holders of diplomat passports will no longer enjoy visa-free travel to the EU, and Russian government officials and business people will no longer benefit from lower fees when applying for a visa. This measure will not apply to Russian citizens in general, who will retain the benefits they currently have.TRADE WITH BREAKAWAY REGIONS IN UKRAINEThe EU has imposed an import ban on goods from breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine, on doing business with tourism services there and on exports of certain goods and technologies. More

(Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund has assured Ukraine of its support by all possible means, Ukraine’s finance ministry said on Saturday.The ministry said in a Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) post that talks on instruments of support for Ukraine are continuing. More

Draghi held a phone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday, “reiterating Italy … will fully support the European Union line on sanctions against Russia, including on SWIFT”, the office said in a statement.A decision to cut Russia off from SWIFT will be taken in a matter of days, the governor of a central bank within the euro zone told Reuters on Saturday. More

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – European Central Bank policymakers remain open to accelerating their exit from bond buys even as the war in Ukraine raises uncertainty, and their biggest debate may be whether to put a firm end-date on the stimulus scheme, sources told Reuters.With inflation pressures building faster than expected, the ECB had been all but certain to signal the end of bond purchases at its March 10 meeting. But the war in Ukraine has thrown those plans into turmoil, prompting policymakers to reassess the outlook. Six sources close to the discussion say that a faster exit is still necessary as inflation could be around double the ECB’s 2% target this year, with even medium term inflation at risk of overshooting.”Inflation is higher and broader. And it’s no longer just energy, but food prices, too,” one of the sources, who asked not to be named, told Reuters. “It would be inappropriate not to act on this.” Russia and Ukraine are both major grain exporters and the conflict risks pushing up food price inflation further. Inflation projections have been notoriously inaccurate in recent quarters so policymakers may put greater weight on current readings, including the February figure, due next week, the sources added.An ECB spokesperson declined to comment. At a news conference on Friday, ECB chief Christine Lagarde said it was premature to speculate about the March decision as policymakers will decide based on data available to them at the time.The problem is that, while temporary, high inflation could seep into the broader economy, lifting wages and prices, entrenching high consumer price growth.The ECB was already due to cut its bond buying over the coming quarters but aimed to keep the purchases open-ended.An end-date is crucial, however, as it has implications for any interest rate hike. Since the bank has signalled there will be no rate increase before the bond buys end, indefinite purchases also push out the timing of any rate hike.”One option would be to signal our intent to end the bond buys in the third quarter but not make a firm commitment,” a second source said.This is likely to be a sticking point as policymakers in the dovish camp argue for “flexibility and optionality”.”I bet the end date will be the biggest debate, I think that’s still an open issue,” a third source said.The sources agreed the ECB should make no commitment on rate hikes.They also said policymakers are likely to agree in March on loosening the link between bond buying and any rate move. The bank’s current guidance is that bond buys will end “shortly before” an interest rate rise.The “shortly” may create undue expectations and tie the ECB’s hand so it could be dropped, the sources said. More

(Reuters) – Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Saturday French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian had supported cutting off Russia from the global SWIFT payment system in a phone conversation with him.France was also ready to supply weapons and military equipment to Ukraine, Kuleba wrote on Twitter (NYSE:TWTR). More