LONDON (Reuters) – The West has imposed an unprecedented package of sanctions on Russia, its top companies and its business and political elite in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
The measures have triggered an exodus of foreign firms, raised the prospect of Russia defaulting on its sovereign debt, and look set to trigger a deep economic contraction.
Here is a summary of the main financial sanctions:
CENTRAL BANK ASSETS FROZEN
The Group of Seven major Western powers have banned transactions with Russia’s central bank and frozen its assets held in their jurisdictions – around $300 billion, according to Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov.
Moscow has called the move “theft”, having for years touted its mammoth reserves as a war chest that would protect the economy against Western sanctions or a sharp downturn.
Russia’s overall gold and foreign currency reserves – including the frozen funds – stood at $593.1 billion as of April 29.
The United States has also barred Russia from using frozen reserves to make bond payments to foreign holders of Russia’s sovereign debt.
The United States has banned American companies from making new investments in Russia. The EU has outlawed new investments in Russia’s energy sector.
Several state investment vehicles such as the Russian Direct Investment Fund and the state development bank VEB have been sanctioned, prohibiting Western investors from dealing with them.
The United States has banned the secondary-market trading of Russian…
