Sanctions cost Russia $6.3bln in 2018, says Economy Ministry

Various restrictions, including economic sanctions, introduced by other countries cost Russia $6.3bln by late 2018, according to the estimates of the Economic Development Ministry presented on Tuesday.

These restrictions include anti-dumping duties, licensing, quotas, technical barriers, sanitary and phytosanitary measures and also economic sanctions.

Russia suffered the biggest loss ($2.42bln) due to restrictions introduced by the EU countries. US sanctions cost Russia nearly $1.17bln, and Ukraine’s restrictions were the third hard-hitting to the tune of $775mln, the ministry said.

The European Union ranks top in terms of the number of restrictions (25), while Ukraine imposed 22 restrictions on Russia. India took the third spot for the number of restrictions, while the United States came sixth with just nine restrictions, falling behind Belarus and Turkey. By the end of 2018, 62 countries imposed a total of 159 restrictions against Moscow.

The heaviest blow was dealt to Russia’s metallurgy industry, which lost more than $3.99bln, the survey showed. The agricultural industry sustained damage to the tune of $1.1bln and the chemical sector was the third hardest-hit industry in Russia, with the loss of $640.7mln. The restrictions also inflicted significant damage to Russia’s automobile industry, which was estimated at $306mln, according to the Economic Development Ministry.

The United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014, following the developments in Ukraine and Crimea’s reunification with Russia. The sanctions have been extended and expanded ever since.