Ukraine approves law on sanctions against Russia

Global Business

Ukraine has moved closer to imposing its own sanctions against Russia for its alleged support of separatist militias in eastern Ukraine.

Restrictions could be imposed on 172 Russian citizens and 65 companies, most of them Russian. CCTV America’s Daria Bondarchuk reports.

Russian officials say the proposed Ukrainian sanctions will pose no threat to Russia’s military sector, and will instead hit Ukraine, as Russia is the only market for its defense products.

Moscow has already banned Ukrainian-made juices and alcohol, milk and chocolate products, as well as fruits and vegetables, and recently closed its airspace for Ukrainian transit flights.

A ban on the transit of Russian natural gas through Ukrainian pipelines could breach existing supply contracts between European energy companies and Russian energy giant, Gazprom. In 2013, Gazprom provided nearly a third of Europe’s total supply.

Ukraine says it may allow European companies to buy gas on its eastern borders with Russia and transport it across the country.

Europe has called on Ukraine to refrain from a transit ban on Russian shipments. Ukraine’s state-owned gas company, Naftogaz, says Gazprom may be exempt from the proposed sanctions as the punitive effects on Gazprom would hurt Europeans as well as Russians.

Experts from EU countries have gathered for talks in Brussels about how to react to Russia’s banning of all agricultural products from Europe.

Countries like France, Spain and Greece say the damage is already being seen with fresh fruit and vegetables, but the EU says there’s not enough data to begin rolling out compensation. Meanwhile, European countries are having to look to alternative markets to make up for losses.

For analysis on the impact and consequences of these sanctions standoff, CCTV America spoke to Charles Ortel, managing director at Newport Ventures.