The US intends to impose new sanctions against Russia and this time they will be directed against the sovereign debt of Russia. This was announced on Thursday, April 15, by The New York Times, citing sources.
The Wall Street Journal also, citing sources, clarified that US President Joe Biden will issue a decree expanding restrictions on US banks’ trading operations with Russian government debt. The decree prohibits US financial institutions from buying new bonds directly from the Russian Central Bank, Treasury Department, and sovereign wealth fund, according to leaked information.
Earlier in the day, Bloomberg reported that the United States plans to impose new sanctions against approximately 12 Russians and 20 Russian organizations. In addition, within the framework of the restriction, according to him, 10 Russian diplomats will be expelled. Such actions by the United States, as noted, will be a response to Moscow’s alleged interference in the elections and cyberattacks through SolarWinds. Agency sources claim that Washington may announce new restrictive measures as early as Thursday.
In mid-March, the US Department of Industry and Trade introduced new trade sanctions against the Russian Federation. They are a continuation of the restrictive measures introduced in early March against 10 companies from Russia.
According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the introduction of politically motivated restrictions by the West against Russia is due to the very fact of the existence of the Russian state. He also pointed out that an important result of the sanctions was the creation of a competitive environment for doing business within the country. The President noted that the risks for investing in the Russian economy have decreased and urged businesses to pay attention to the possibility of investing money “at home”.
In April, RBC, referring to the review of the senior strategist of VTB Capital Maxim Korovin, Navigator OFZ dated April 5 and the chief economist of ING for Russia and the CIS, Dmitry Dolgin, reported that, as of early April, the share of federal loan bonds (OFZ) in property of non-residents was less than 20%, having fallen over the last month by 2.8%. The last time such an indicator was in 2015.
Economists provided estimates based on data from the National Settlement Depository (NSD). Among the main reasons for the decline in foreign investment in Russian bonds, analysts pointed to threats of new sanctions from the United States, which may include a ban on US residents from holding OFZs.
Georgy Ostapkovich, director of the HSE Center for Conjunctural Research, commenting to Izvestia on the reports of a number of economists about the decrease in the share of foreigners in Russia’s public debt, urged to wait for official statistics.