US ‘Kremlin Report’ Already Having Negative Impact On Russian Businesses – OpEd

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The so-called “Kremlin Report” of the US government even though it has not yet been accompanied by new sanctions is already having a negative impact on Russian companies, according to former Russian finance minister Aleksey Kudrin (interfax.ru/business/599206 and dailystorm.ru/news/kudrin-kremlevskiy-doklad-my-perezhivem-no-on-uzhe-navredil-rossii).

Both the firms and the Russian government have sought to minimize these consequences and were breathing much more easily when sanctions were not imposed at the time the list was issued, the head of the Moscow Center for Strategic Planning says; but more sanctions may come and companies are already facing a different financial situation in dealings with foreign banks.

In support of that view, Vagit Alekperov, the president of LUKOIL, tells Dozhd television that after the report was published, the price of shares in his company declined (tvrain.ru/news/glava_lukojla_dopustil_problemy_s_kreditami_iz_za_kremlevskogo_doklada-457180/ and sobkorr.ru/news/5A7D696F1C28E.html).

And other analysts have suggested that one of the reason companies whose heads are on the list are now in difficulty is that other companies view it as more risky and even potentially dangerous to themselves to maintain any contacts with them (rbc.ru/opinions/politics/09/02/2018/5a7c5e679a79473cb026591c?from=center_6).

It is not clear whether such statements will lead those in Washington opposed to new sanctions to delay even further – it is certainly the case that the Kremlin would be pleased if that were the case – but it is certain that the list, however defective and so far without accompanying sanctions – is having an effect in Russia that members of the elite can feel.

Paul Goble

Paul Goble is a longtime specialist on ethnic and religious questions in Eurasia. Most recently, he was director of research and publications at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy. Earlier, he served as vice dean for the social sciences and humanities at Audentes University in Tallinn and a senior research associate at the EuroCollege of the University of Tartu in Estonia. He has served in various capacities in the U.S. State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency and the International Broadcasting Bureau as well as at the Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Mr. Goble maintains the Window on Eurasia blog and can be contacted directly at [email protected] .

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