... cement, chemical products, fertilizers, soap, rubber, paper, pumps, refrigerators, bearings, engines, telephones, cars, cameras and much more. Obviously, shipments of such goods had no chance of passing customs.
Ivan Timofeev:
Eleventh Package of EU Sanctions. What's New?
But what should be done if a Russian citizen imports this or that product for personal use? The most obvious example is entering the EU in a private car. At the beginning of July this year, German customs explained that
entering Germany by car is regarded as grounds for arrest.
In fact, German customs proceeded from the fact that Art. 3i of Regulation 833/2014 does not provide any exceptions for goods for personal use. It contains Clause 3a, which allows import for such use by ...
... United States to block construction of Nord Stream 2 by proxy have proven unsuccessful (construction work has already started in Germany), we can expect Washington to start to take shots at the Russian project directly. Congress has already granted the President ... ...
It is still unclear whether or not Allseas will pull out of the contract in light of the U.S. ban. In any case, the American sanctions against Nord Stream 2 will be a blow not only to Russia, but (and perhaps more importantly) to Europe itself. After ...
... more independent economic actors. Sanctions that are not agreed between the United States and the EU and that above all want to punish Putin and his entourage are counter-productive. The whole sanctions approach should be rethought, without lifting the sanctions related to the conflict in Ukraine if there is no progress in the conflict there.
It is important to open new areas of cooperation between Germany/the EU and Russia in Eurasia, where China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Russia’s Eurasian Economic Union project will compete increasingly.
The new foundation of the relationship should be based above all on the society. There is nearly no ...
... from from the bottom up. Do you think the same mechanism would be applicable to the Russia–EU relations?
Richard Connolly:
Sanctions Have Not Been So Bad
It is difficult. In Europe you have this kind of divisions between member states, and their views ... ... Russia. Others are a little bit more moderate. In Europe it depends on the country: from Baltic states and Poland to Austria, Germany, and France. Things are shifting and one dangerous element is that everyone, including Europe, is talking about the hybrid ...
... didn´t go for the whole package.
So far I would say that sanctions definitely had a negative impact on Russian economy, especially in the banking and energy sectors. But the most important factor for the Russian economy is the oil price. The longer sanctions remain, the easier it is for Russia to get used to them and find loopholes.
After China, Germany is the country which had the highest trade volume with Russia. But due to the Ukrainian crisis our exports to Russia went down by 6.5 billion Euro (18 percent) in 2014. In the first four months of 2015 we saw an additional minus of 34 percent....
... this policy may be striking back at its most imperious defender with a boomerang effect. As a matter of fact in August 2014 Germany's industrial production dropped by a moderately worrisome 4.3% according to Eurostat, insinuating the specter of recession.... ... the case to point out that the hit suffered by the German industry is ironically emerging after the enactment of the economic sanctions against Moscow, of which Chancellor Merkel was a most strenuous advocate. This kind of measures produces effects after ...