Workers could pay the price for poorly targeted sanctions.
Leaving a low-cost supermarket of the Piaterochka chain, Svetlana, in her forties, returns home with a bag full of basic foodstuffs – rice, sugar. She assures him, the sanctions have not yet had an effect on his daily life. “So far, this chain has not passed on any price increases to these consumer products, but I have already noticed a clear price increase on imported products. Now is not the time to buy without thinking, I only take the essentials”she says.
Like many Russians, Svetlana is not optimistic that the sanctions that have been raining down on Russia since the beginning of the Russian army’s intervention in Ukraine are likely to have serious consequences for the country’s economy. The day after the entry of Russian armored vehicles into the Donbass, the Moscow Stock Exchange plummeted, the ruble broke records of weakness against the dollar and the euro. The Russian currency collapsed by more than 20%, forcing Moscow to close its stock exchange all week. Banks and the energy sector should be the first victims of the coming crisis. Fears over Russia’s exit from the Swift international financial system have also pushed some Russians to prefer local banks.
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