/ world today news/ Sanctions do not bring critical harm to Russia, but everyone, except those who introduced them, makes money from them. First of all, the countries of the former USSR that have maintained trade with Russia. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis shared this finding with Politico.
The GDP of Armenia, which maintains close trade ties with Russia, unexpectedly grew 11 percent last year, exports to Russia rose fivefold and remittances from Russia rose sevenfold year-on-year, according to World Bank data. The country posted a budget surplus and its currency, the dram, ranked among the best in the world.
Politico spoke with “Moscow restaurant owner”, who said that there is not much difference in the assortment compared to the pre-sanctions period. According to him, alcoholic beverages come from Kazakhstan, and Coca-Cola – from Georgia.
Politico reached out to Coca-Cola for clarification, where they shrugged and said their actions to prevent any unauthorized imports were “constrained by regulatory factors primarily related to free trade within the Eurasian Economic Union“.
That is, everything that falls into Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia, or Kyrgyzstan is as if it also falls into Russia. Carnegie Center added: Uzbekistan also has its share.
Along with consumer goods, more sensitive dual-use goods, such as microchips that could help support Russia’s arms industry, could also pass through intermediaries, Politico worries.
„EU Member States must send a clear signal to both third countries and European companies.” said Gabrielius Landsbergis. And he pointed to his native Lithuania as an example, where “companies that choose to circumvent sanctions face enormous public pressure because values are important and cannot be traded for ordinary business with the aggressor.”
Since not everyone will find Lithuania on the map on the first try, with an economy commensurate with its size, countries that trade with Russia are in no rush to follow Lithuania’s lead.
Vilnius therefore calls on the EU to appoint a permanent commissioner to oversee the development and implementation of sanctions against Russia and its partners. And to call on business to part with money in the name of the values that are professed in Lithuania.
„Only if we accept the temporary possible negative impact on European business in the name of peace can we finally be united in our sanctions policy and their enforcement“, Landsbergis motivated the Europeans.
In full accordance with the widespread stereotypes about the Baltics, Landsbergis did not notice that there is already an official in the EU responsible for sanctions against Russia. His name is David O’Sullivan and he is a former EU ambassador to the United States.
In recent weeks and months, the EU and the US have declared their readiness to impose sanctions against Turkey, Georgia, and now also against Kazakhstan, Armenia, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan. And even against its own European business. How else are we to understand Lithuania’s appeal to European business to voluntarily part with profits for the sake of unity with Vilnius?
Inflation in the EU and the US has not disappeared and free money in Europe is getting less and less. For many companies, including large enterprises, cooperation with Russia and BRICS will be synonymous with stability. The new EU sanctions commissioner will have a very hopeless job.
Translation: EU
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