EU sanctions and oil price fall ‘will cost Russia $140bn a year’

Russia is set to lose around $40 billion per year due to Western sanctions over the Ukraine conflict, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said on Monday. Sanctions imposed by the European Union and the U.S. on Russia’s economy, which is largely dependent on exports of raw materials, block its access to international capital markets and also to technology. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday accused the West of attempting to achieve “regime change” in Russia through sanctions that aim to destroy the economy and rouse public protests.

We are losing around $40 billion per year due to geopolitical sanctions and $90 to $100 billion per year due to oil prices falling 30 per cent.

Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov

President Vladimir Putin suggested on Sunday that Russia could experience “catastrophic consequences” from sanctions, the falling oil price and the plunging ruble, while arguing that these would have knock-on effects for other countries. He warned: “The modern world is interdependent. It’s far from guaranteed that sanctions, the steep fall in oil prices and the loss of value of the national currency will lead to negative results or catastrophic consequences only for us.” Putin also suggested that falling oil prices were due to “targeted steps by our partners on the world energy market.” A major producer of crude oil, Russia is not a member of the OPEC oil producers cartel, which is to discuss later in the week whether to cut output.

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