Yesterday, the United States and the United Kingdom announced new measures against several financial institutions in the Eurasian country, banning investment in the national economy and expanding the list of personal restrictions.
But in the new attack on Russia, the European Union failed to agree on what it hurts Moscow so much to do.
The stone in the shoe is the so-called 27 ocean liners to attack Russia’s energy sector, a call not well received by some members whose economies are reeling without gas and oil from the Eurasian giant.
Western media revealed that one of the alternatives that Europeans analyzed to influence this main sector of the Russian economy is the imposition of exorbitant tariffs on gas, oil and coal from this country.
Regarding this option, Sergey Sovirov, investment analyst at Aricapital, told Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper that the measure would lead to an increase in prices for gasoline, electricity and public services for European consumers.
He said that Russian companies, in turn, would have another incentive to shift energy supplies to the East as quickly as possible.
Also in this regard, Alexander Dzhiyev, an analyst at Alfa Capital, considered that due to the increase in prices for raw materials from the Middle East, new initiatives of the European Union against Russia in relation to oil become a “whim” every time. More expensive for European consumers.
According to data from the European Commission, the societal bloc imports 90 percent of the gas it consumes, and Russia provides more than 40 percent of this figure. In addition, 27 percent of its oil supplies and 46 percent of its coal come from this country.
Program director at the Russian International Affairs Council, Ivan Timofeev, told Izvestia newspaper that the new restrictions last January could have been seen as a huge event “but, unfortunately, it is now a familiar sight”.
For the Russian expert, this package is unpleasant for some banks, but it does not change the strategic scenario for the worse. “Now, when there is a fear of cooperation with Russia, many transactions are no longer carried out even where they can be conducted legally.”
Long before the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine, on February 24, the European Union had already announced that it would abandon Moscow’s dependence on energy, a decision that is now something to be fulfilled before 2030.
There is clearly a rush to do this, but also that it will take years to achieve, at which time it will be impossible to cut the umbilical cord without seriously harming the economy and the population of European countries.
Timofeev said that the EU will gradually implement energy-saving mechanisms and replace the existing volumes with a greater consumption of resources from renewables to reduce the share of Russian energy within three years, perhaps a little more.
jcm / mml
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