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Western EuropeMarch 15 2023

Russian sanctions: a cat and mouse game

A year in, how are the sanctions imposed by the West on Russian entities, goods, assets and individuals taking shape? Have we reached the point of sanctions overreach? Anita Hawser investigates. 
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Russian sanctions: a cat and mouse gameImage: Getty Images

“The basic objective of sanctions,” says long-time Kremlin critic and former Russia investor, Bill Browder, “is to starve Russian president Vladimir Putin of financial resources.” So, have the thousands of sanctions levied against Russian entities, goods and individuals by more than 30 countries following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, done this? The answer, Mr Browder says, is partially.

“There’s $350bn of central bank reserves which are frozen that [Mr Putin] doesn’t have access to. There’s somewhere north of $100bn dollars of oligarch’s money that’s been frozen. The major Russian banks no longer have access to the capital markets. Many Western companies have either fully or partially withdrawn from Russia.

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Anita Hawser is the Europe editor at The Banker. For the past 20 years, Anita has worked as a freelance journalist for a range of banking, finance and tech titles covering topics such as cybersecurity, financial crime, cryptocurrencies, payments, trade and supply chain finance. Before joining The Banker, Anita was Europe editor at Global Finance.
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