Inflation tops 10%
Russian inflation reaches more than 10% for the first time in more than five years due to sanctions and the rouble collapse, which is the biggest since 1998. Сonsumer prices increased 10.4 percent this year through Dec. 22, the Federal Statistics Service in Moscow said. Prices grew 0.9 percent in the week through that date, the most since April 2008, when the service started to provide weekly data. ING Groep economist:
Companies are saying ‘everybody is raising prices and so will I, especially when people start panic-buying not only electronics and cars but also everyday goods’
A Bank of Russia base case forecast predicts inflation to reach 11.5% next quarter, before then decelerating.
Monitors all west African students
The Russian government has placed all students arriving from west Africa – more than 1,000 people – under monitoring. Deputy education minister Kaganov:
I’m sure there is no real danger of Ebola getting into [Russia].
Credit rating cut to just above junk grade
Moody’s Investors Service cuts its rating on Russian government debt to Baa2, the second ratings notch above speculative grade. The outlook on the credit rating is Negative. It cites ‘increasingly subdued medium-term growth prospects,’ exacerbated by the Ukraine crisis. Low oil prices and other factors also contribute.
Sanctions against Russia
0 CommentsThe EU has introduced new sanctions on Russia which would take effect on Friday 12 Sept The EU and NATO believes that Russia still have about 1,000 armed troops in east Ukraine. The EU and US accuse the Kremlin of directly helping pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions by sending regular soldiers across the border, along with sophisticated weapons including tanks. Moscow denies the allegations.
70% of Russian troops withdrawn
Poroshenko says Russia has withdrawn the majority of its forces from eastern Ukraine. At a government meeting:
According to the latest information that I have received from our intelligence, 70 percent of Russian troops have been moved back across the border. This further strengthens our hope that the peace initiatives have good prospects.
Ceasefire begins
Ukraine, Russia and the Kremlin-backed separatists sign a ceasefire deal. Gunfire and shelling appear to fall silent across the east of the country as the agreement takes effect. Poroshenko says he ordered his forces to halt hostilities at 6 p.m. local time (11 a.m. EDT) after the deal was signed in Minsk, Belarus capital, by the three sides and a representative of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Separatist leaders also say they ordered their forces to hold fire. Poroshenko says the cease-fire is based on an agreement reached during a ‘long conversation’ with Putin and will be overseen by international monitors from the OSCE. The European Union is preparing additional sanctions in case it fails. The negotiators also agree on withdrawal of all heavy weaponry, the release of all prisoners and the delivery of humanitarian aid to devastated cities in eastern Ukraine.
‘Cannot appease Putin’
Cameron says at a closed-door EU summit in Brussels that the international community cannot afford to appease Putin, comparing Russia’s actions to Hitler in 1938. The Italian La Repubblica newspaper obtains details of the discussion:
We run the risk of repeating the mistakes made in Munich in ’38. We cannot know what will happen next. This time we cannot meet Putin’s demands. He has already taken Crimea and we cannot allow him to take the whole country.
Downing Street declines to confirm the remarks, but does not contest the accuracy of the report.
‘Russia at war with Europe’
Lithuanian president Dalia Grybauskaite says that Russia is now effectively at war with Europe:
It is the fact that Russia is in a war state against Ukraine. That means it is in a state of war against a country which would like to be closely integrated with the EU. Practically Russia is in a state of war against Europe. That means we need to help Ukraine to … defend its territory and its people and to help militarily, especially with the military materials to help Ukraine to defend itself because today Ukraine is fighting a war on behalf of all Europe.
Suspends uranium trade
Abbott announces that uranium trade with Russia is ruled out until further notice due to its actions in the Ukraine, several days after the government announces other sanctions including restrictions on investment, travel, and access by Russian banks to Australian capital markets.
Australia has no intention of selling uranium to a country which is so obviously in breach of international law as Russia currently is
‘Russia can take Kiev in two weeks’
Barroso questions Putin on the apparent presence of as many as 1,600 Russian troops in Ukraine at a closed-door discussion at an EU summit in Brussels, and the Russian leader responds that he could take the country’s capital in a fortnight. Details of the talk leaked by the Italian La Repubblica newspaper show that he responds:
The problem is not this, but that if I want I’ll take Kiev in two weeks
A Kremlin foreign policy advisor says the remarks are out of context, however the Kremlin does not deny that Putin has spoken of taking Kiev.
Increases sanctions
Abbott announces increased sanctions on Russia, bringing Australia’s sanctions in line with the European Union. The extra sanctions include restrictions on arms exports, restrictions on Russian State-owned banks to Australia’s capital markets, stopping exports used for oil exploration and production, restrictions on Australian trade and investment in Crimea, and targeted travel bans and financial sanctions on 63 Russian and Ukrainian individuals and entities. He doesn’t impose sanctions on the uranium trade, but says:
The government does not rule out further sanctions in the future
European ultimatum to Russia
European leaders give Russia one week to scale back its intervention in Ukraine – or face fresh economic sanctions. European leaders order officials to make urgent preparations for a toughening of measures, likely to target senior Kremlin figures as well as the defence, energy and financial sectors. Barroso:
We are in a very serious, I would say, dramatic situation … where we can reach the point of no return. If the escalation of the conflict continues, this point can come.
Condemns Russian ‘invasion’
Abbott says an apparent movement of Russian troops into Ukraine represents an ‘invasion’ and is unacceptable:
Clearly if, as seems to have been the case, Russian armed forces have simply moved across the border that is an invasion and it is utterly reprehensible. It is an absolutely clear cut case of a larger country bullying a smaller country and should have no place in our world.
The act presents a risk to global security:
You cannot have an international order if might is right. You cannot have a safe and secure world if powerful countries are able to take what they want and plainly what we’ve seen in the Ukraine over the last six moths or so is an increasingly aggressive role by Russia and it seems that Russia is now stepping out of the shadows and overtly trying to achieve its objects of domination in the Ukraine. It is completely, absolutely and utterly unacceptable.