Expert assessment of Russia’s retaliatory economic sanctions

Alexander Arbouzov, Partner and Head of Corporate Practice, noted that a number of states are currently applying an unprecedented wide range of sanctions against Russia. According to the expert, these actions are unreasoned, since Russia has not used weapons against these countries and their alliances, and from the point of view of international law are absolutely illegal. Alexander Arbouzov believes that retaliatory measures are certainly necessary in the current conditions.

The expert noted that the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation does not provide for a general ban on transactions, but only with those legal entities and individuals (including the so-called "controlled") from "unfriendly" states, the list of which will be approved by the Government of the Russian Federation. He explained that the definition of additional criteria for classifying transactions as those, the commission of which and the fulfillment of obligations under which are prohibited, allows the government to regulate the criteria for prohibited transactions. "For example, the government may ban not all, but only those transactions which, on the one hand, are vital for the "economic aggressor", but at the same time do not liquidate our own enterprises (in particular, due to the redirection of export to other regions or the supply of products to consumers within the country)," – the expert commented.