The opinion of the politician was not taken into account by the European Union and the UK.
American media reports that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, in a telephone conversation with US President Joe Biden, advised for some time to limit himself from imposing sanctions against Russian and billionaire Roman Abramovich.
The politician called the businessman’s help in the Russian-Ukrainian negotiations the reason, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Referring to its sources, the publication says that back in early March, restrictive measures against Abramovich were prepared by the US Treasury, then they were presented to the country’s Security Council, which asked them to refrain from introducing them for the time being.
The publication, through its sources, found that in a recent conversation with Biden, Vladimir Zelensky advised them to refrain from taking measures against Abramovich.
He said that Abramovich could become an important mediator for Russia in peace negotiations.
It is known that at this moment the United States intended to agree on joint sanctions against the oligarch with the UK and the EU.
A representative of Abramovich, the WSJ reports, declined to comment on his participation in the negotiations.
He said that Abramovich, as a representative of all Jewish organizations in Ukraine, is doing everything to restore peace as soon as possible, he stressed.
As Topnews wrote earlier, on March 10 it became known about the imposition of sanctions against 7 Russian entrepreneurs, including Abramovich, and later he was included in the EU sanctions list.
The Kremlin said that “it is better to ask Nabiullina.”
Bloomberg, citing several sources, announced the intention of Russian President Vladimir Putin not to remove the head of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina from the post after February 24, the date when Russia’s military special operation in Ukraine began.
The head of the Central Bank herself allegedly asked for her resignation.
A media source explained that Putin would consider such a move a betrayal, although employees of the financial profile of the regulator feel insecure about their capabilities in the conditions of isolation of Russia.
Bloomberg also reports on mass layoffs that affected the Central Bank. The agency believes that the regulator was counting on milder sanctions than happened, including disconnection from SWIFT.
They called this step “too extreme” because after the decision of the European Union and the United States, the Central Bank lost access to $300 billion of the $643 billion gold and foreign exchange reserve.
The Central Bank denied information about the head’s intention to resign, saying that the agency’s information is not true, RIA Novosti reports.
In turn, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the same agency that he would not comment on her wishes.
“It’s better to ask Nabiullina,” he told the agency.
Earlier, Topnews wrote that earlier the media reported a record rise in the Central Bank’s key rate. It exceeded 20%.
According to the expert, much will depend on the details of the calculation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on the eve instructed to proceed to the calculation in rubles for gas in relation to unfriendly countries.
The Head of State noted that the Russian Federation will continue to supply natural gas in accordance with contractual obligations and set aside a week for the Central Bank of the Russian Federation and the Russian government to determine a new procedure for operations in rubles.
According to economist Sergey Pikin, an attempt has been made several times before to switch to rubles in payment for energy carriers.
However, in the end, preference was still given to the calculation in dollars.
“Now is the most convenient time to transfer our gas trade to rubles”, – Pikin is sure.
He noted that further everything will depend on the implementation mechanism.
With a strict scheme under which buyers will be obliged to buy rubles on the Moscow Exchange, European buyers are unlikely to do it en masse.
This will lead to the fact that European consumers will actively look for alternative suppliers, and the Russian Federation will have to reduce supplies.
“If the mechanism of the counterparty’s transition to rubles is softer and more comfortable, step-by-step, then it will successfully work ”, – the expert is sure. His words are quoted by “Moskovsky Komsomolets”.
He recalled that there is no question of selling oil and other goods for export for rubles.
At the same time, he called gas the most painful issue for European consumers.
Meanwhile, the reaction of some countries to Moscow’s decision to convert mutual settlements for gas into rubles has already become known.
So, Austria and Italy are still studying the situation, expressing doubts about the possibility of paying for gas in a currency other than the contract.
“My opinion is that it is necessary to pay in euros, because paying in rubles would be a way to circumvent sanctions. Therefore, I think we will continue to pay in euros,” said Francesco Javazzi, Economic Adviser to the Italian Prime Minister.
They are also studying the situation in Germany. There is also no understanding yet of how payments for Russian gas will be made in rubles.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic admitted that Russia’s decision to sell gas for rubles will create many problems.
According to him, Bulgaria, through whose gas transmission system Russian gas enters Serbia and Hungary, has already declared its unwillingness to pay for gas from the Russian Federation in rubles.
“This decision is about rubles – some people think it’s brilliant in the geopolitical game to resist the petrodollar together with the yuan, the Germans have already said that this is the reason for the termination of the contract, so I’m not sure. All this brings us only many, many new problems,” RIA Novosti quoted the Serbian president as saying.
But Moldova has declared its readiness to switch to rubles when paying for gas, since the agreement between Gazprom and Moldovagaz provides for payments in both dollars and euros or rubles.
“There will be no consequences in relations with Gazprom ”, — assured Deputy Prime Minister of Moldova Andrei Spynu.
Earlier, topNews wrote that Vladimir Putin instructed to pay for gas in Europe for rubles.
The head of the US Department of Commerce, Gina Raimondo, told the media that the American side may refuse Chinese companies access to US programs for the fact that they are supplying to Russia.
According to Raimondo, we are talking about the fact that Chinese manufacturers sell semiconductors in Russia, thereby bypassing US sanctions.
Meanwhile, they also use software that is produced in the States.
In an interview with Reuters, the politician said that access to the Chinese may be denied if the facts of the deliveries can be proved.
“We can essentially close them…and are absolutely ready to do it”, – said Raimondo.
She added that Washington’s sanctions will be imposed on all countries that try to circumvent export restrictions against Russia, which were imposed by the United States because of the special operation. Russia in Ukraine.
According to Raimondo, all Chinese semiconductor manufacturers use American software.
As Topnews wrote earlier, China stated that it does not need lectures from a violator of international law, which is the United States itself.
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Meanwhile, experts called the consequences of switching to the settlement in rubles with unfriendly countries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government to transfer all settlements of Gazprom with unfriendly countries for the Russian gas supplied to them in rubles, thereby replacing the compromised currencies of the dollar and euro, TASS reports.
Putin stressed that the order concerns both existing gas supply contracts and those planned to be concluded or extended.
The government and the Central Bank were instructed to develop a set of measures, following which gas buyers were able to purchase Russian rubles for settlements.
It follows from Putin’s statement that the transition to settlement with unfriendly countries in rubles with Gazprom is only the beginning and probably the list of supplier companies will be expanded.
Meanwhile, the head of the oil and gas company OMV of Austria, Alfred Stern, said that the company will continue to pay under the current contract in euros, not in Russian rubles. Nevertheless, he explained that they had not received any new directives, so they would wait until the supplier’s representatives contacted them.
In turn, the RBC expert noted that when switching to settlements in Russian rubles with unfriendly countries, the currency of the Russian Federation will only strengthen, and he called Putin’s order an increase in the stakes in the game.
“The EU is considering scenarios for ending energy trade with Russia. On the part of Russia, this is the answer: We are ready for an escalation of the conflict and, if necessary, we can stop gas supplies earlier than Europe,” said Stanislav Mitrakhovich, an expert at the National Energy Security Foundation and the Financial University.
In addition, he noted that Putin by the same instruction made it clear to the EU that a single oil embargo would simply not pass.
Earlier, Topnews wrote that General Shamanov threatened Poland for supporting Ukraine.
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It became known what will happen after our country leaves the World Trade Organization.
According to Maxim Medvedkov, the former director of the Trade negotiations Department of the Ministry of Energy, Russia’s withdrawal from the WTO will change the rules of trade with countries that did not impose sanctions against our country.
According to RIA Novosti, earlier the just Russians proposed to the State Duma a document denouncing the protocol on Russia’s accession to the WTO.
According to Medvekov, if we mentally divide all countries into those who imposed sanctions against Russia and those who did not, then from the point of view of trade, the volumes will be distributed approximately equally.
At the same time, the second half will increase, and WTO rules will continue to operate in trade with them.
“But the WTO rules, I think, will be applied to some extent in trade with sanctioning countries, ”, – the specialist is sure.
He regards Russia’s refusal of WTO membership as a desire to trade with the world without rules.
Medvedkov noted that the WTO establishes the obligations of the parties. In the absence of such rules, there are no guarantees of how states will act towards each other in trade.
WTO membership, according to the expert, is a guarantee of trade on an equal basis.
Earlier, topNews wrote that the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation announced a ban on the exit of foreign business from the assets of the Russian Federation.
Business, as the politician said, makes decisions under pressure.
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In Russia, up to ten Tu-214 passenger planes can be assembled per year. The aircraft assembled at the Kazan Aviation Plant named after S. P. Gorbunov can replace the departed western fleet, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Yuri Borisov is sure.
During the trip to the plant Borisov noted that the plant has prepared production, it will be possible to implement the project in stages.
According to TASS, passenger Tu-214s can get Red Wings, Aeroflot and others.
By the way, the Tu-214 uses a minimum amount of foreign parts. The plant plans to fix this in a year, and Borisov added that “there is no special dependence.”
“The urgent issue is to restore the production of domestic models in the right amount so that we do not experience difficulties with the transportation of Russian citizens both inside the country and abroad,” Borisov said.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, March 22, Vitaly Saveliev, the head of the Ministry of Transport, said that 78 planes of Russian airlines were arrested abroad. 800 airliners were transferred to the Russian registry.
30 30 airlines from 22 countries continue to fly to Russia.
Denis Manturov, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, spoke about the difficulties in developing the MS-21 aircraft. According to him, foreign suppliers, despite the prepayment, did not supply foreign components.
But by the end of 2022, the United Aircraft Corporation will deliver two serial MS-21 aircraft to the customer, Manturov is sure. And the production of the “import-substituted” MS-21 will begin in 2024.
As Manturov added, all the parts that will be replaced in our aircraft must be tested to meet the requirements of aviation safety.
Earlier, medium-haul Russian MS-21 aircraft were planned to be released in 2016, but difficulties caused deliveries from abroad.
As Topnews wrote earlier, the world’s largest Mriya transport plane burned down in Ukraine.
The crew of the First Channel was at the airfield and showed the remains of the board. Ukraine has already promised to recover more than $3 billion from Russia.
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Previously, residents of Germany were offered to give up heating and other means.
The head of the German Ministry of Agriculture, Cem Ozdemir, shared with the media his idea that if the majority of Germans refuse meat, Germany will be able to resist Russian President Vladimir Putin.
In an interview with Spiegel, he said that Russia, which supplies food to Germany, uses it as a weapon.
And a decrease in the consumption of the Russian product can be a countermeasure.
As Ozdemir explained, he intends to promote vegetarianism, although he himself is not a fan of such a food regime.
“Reducing meat consumption would be a contribution against Putin”, – the official believes.
Ozdemir added that conscious purchases will help the Germans, as well as less — this also applies here, Ozdemir said.
The expert believes that it is worth waiting for the rise in price of grain crops, because they came to Germany from Ukraine and Russia.
In turn, Politico believes that American leader Joe Biden intends to discuss the oil issue during the European visit, including the dependence of the European Union on Russian fuel supplies.
It is reported that the meeting will be held in Brussels as part of the NATO summit. And later, the American leader will arrive in Poland, where he will have a meeting with Polish President Andrzej Dudoib.
The media, citing an EU insider, reports that the main obstacle to the replacement of Russian oil is the supply of natural gas from the United States in the amount Europe needs. The gas level in the storage facilities needs to be restored before the beginning of winter.
According to him, the EU believes that the United States should increase exports and production itself, but Washington does not lead the oil industry, and its capabilities in solving this issue are limited.
In this regard, Biden can promise little to the European side.
As Topnews wrote earlier, earlier the United States called China’s behavior arrogant, accusing Beijing of trying to ignore sanctions against the Russian Federation.
The media suggest that the vessels have come under anti-Russian sanctions.
The media reports on the detention in Finland of 21 vessels, probably belonging to Russians. Another vessel, which belongs to billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky, was detained in Gibraltar.
According to the publication Helsingin Sanomat, Finnish customs officers detained vessels that were probably under anti-Russian sanctions. It is assumed that if the information about the Russian ownership of the yachts is confirmed, they will be sent for freezing.
And according to Reuters, the authorities of British Gibraltar detained the yacht Axioma, probably belonging to Pumpyansky.
The ship sails under the flag of Malta, and left the Caribbean, or rather, the island of Antigua, on February 27. Across the Atlantic, the yacht arrived in Gibraltar a month later, on March 21.
Recall, as Topnews wrote, earlier, as part of the sanctions, the vessels of other Russian oligarchs, as well as real estate and accounts were detained.
Sanctions were imposed by the US, the EU and the UK. So, on March 17, the yacht of “kuma” Putin Medvedchuk was detained.
As Bloomberg clarifies, only in one of the EU members – Italy, €780 million of Russian private funds were frozen.
Russians can’t always pay for goods in foreign online stores using UnionPay.
After the departure of Visa and Mastercard payment systems from Russia, some bank customers issued UnionPay cards to make purchases in foreign online stores.
However, it turned out that payments from these cards often do not go through despite the application of some sites for UnionPay support.
According to iguides.ru payments from these cards may be rejected without explanation.
At the same time, the cost of issuing or servicing a UnionPay card in Russia is more expensive than the usual systems.
For example, issuing such a card in some banks costs 15,000 rubles.
According to experts, problems with payment via UnionPay can be provoked by a number of reasons.
For example, this is possible if the card was issued by a sanctioned bank.
At the same time, the services responsible for making payments (for example, Stripe) can reject payments from any cards from Russia, despite the fact that UnionPay is a Chinese payment system.
Earlier, topNews wrote that Visa and Mastercard announced that they were suspending work in Russia.
Against this background, the journalists explained what would happen to the cards now.
