Box 6. sanctions imposed on Russia in response to the escalation of war with Ukraine

appreciated by more than 1 percent against a basket of currencies due to a rise in investors’ risk aversion. spreads for a range of EAP countries, especially Vietnam, widened. Uncertainty is expected to remain elevated following the imposition of sanctions towards Russia by other major economies (box 6).

EAP countries differ in their vulnerability to tighter global financing conditions. in some dimensions, major EAP economies appear to be relatively well equipped to cope with those shocks. They generally have a strong pre-COVID track record of growth, flexible exchange rate regimes, and relatively robust fiscal, monetary, and prudential frameworks. However, EAP

Box 6. Sanctions imposed on Russia in response to the escalation of war in Ukraine

following the escalation of Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine, major western economies are imposing a wide range of sanctions on Russia. These include sanctions on oil and gas, financial measures, trade, and restrictions on specific individuals. The following is an illustrative list of still-evolving measures.

Oil and gas

The Us is banning all Russian oil and gas imports and the UK will phase out Russian oil by the end of 2022. The EU, which gets a quarter of its oil and 40 percent of its gas from Russia, is planning to switch to alternative sources of energy and reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian energy “well before 2030.” Germany has put on hold permission for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to open.

Financial measures

Western countries have frozen the assets of Russia’s central bank, preventing it from using its $630bn of dollar reserves. some Russian banks are being removed from the international financial messaging system swift, which is used to transfer money across borders. This will delay payments to Russia for energy exports. The UK is freezing the assets of major Russian banks and the Russian state and major companies will not be able to raise finance or borrow money in the UK. The EU is considering targeting 70 percent of the Russian banking market and key state-owned firms.

Targeting individuals

Assets belonging to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his foreign minister Sergei Lavrov are being frozen in the US, EU, UK and Canada. sanctions have been imposed on wealthy business leaders known as oligarchs, who are considered close to the Kremlin, including freezing their assets and restricting their ability to travel. EU, UK and Us have also imposed sanctions on 386 members of the Russian parliament. The UK is limiting the sale of “golden visas”, which allowed wealthy Russians to get British residency rights.

Targeting specific traded products

Many countries, including EU, UK, and the Us have announced export restrictions on technological exports as well as items that could have both a civilian and military purposes–including chemicals and lasers. The EU is also banning the sale of aircraft and equipment to Russian airlines. All Russian flights have been banned from Us, UK, EU and Canadian airspace. The UK has also banned private jets chartered by Russians.

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