Eurobanker: Russia is good at avoiding sanctions
The head of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde, is upset that the sanctions imposed against Russia “don’t bite as hard.”
She stated this to Russian pranksters Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexey Stolyarov (Vovan and Lexus), who called her on behalf of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“I think the sanctions don’t bite as much as we expected. And I also think that the technological barriers that are now being introduced against Russia will affect their growth and their business model,” Lagarde said.
She admitted that Russia sells energy abroad in the same volume.
“The problem with energy prices, as I see it, is that they still manage to sell a lot of energy, be it oil or gas, to countries other than those that impose sanctions. And, of course, outside the EU.
When they sell to India, China, the Far East, they manage to ensure an influx of foreign currency. I don’t know if they receive yuan and rupees, but they definitely manage to keep the money flowing,” Lagarde said.
The European banker still hopes that Russia's position will be affected by the oil price ceiling imposed by Western countries, but she is not too sure about it.
“I think it will help if it is implemented and enforced correctly. Now all major shipping companies, all brokers, all insurance companies operating outside of Europe, the United Kingdom, the United States will comply with the agreement and will not provide insurance or provide transportation if the price is set above the ceiling.
But you and I know that the Russians are very good at circumventing sanctions. The fact that they have increased their fleet of oil tankers, that they are trying to create some kind of internal insurance mechanism, is a way in which they can circumvent the sanctions that we have imposed,” Lagarde said.
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