The Ukrainian government is prepared to impose sanctions against Russia that could include bans on some flights over the country and gas supplies to Western Europe, Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said Friday. The cabinet proposed sanctions that could affect 172 Russian individuals and 65 companies and organizations, if the measure is approved by parliament Tuesday. The people and firms subject to sanctions are accused of sponsoring “terrorism,” which is how the government describes the tactics of separatists battling government troops in eastern Ukraine. They also are deemed to have been supportive of Russia’s annexation of Crimea and violating the territorial integrity of Ukraine.The government said 26 different types of sanctions would be employed, including freezing assets and the expropriation of property. Russia is Ukraine’s second-largest trade partner after the European Union. Russian-owned companies are deeply interwoven in the Ukrainian economy. Wealthy Russians own luxury hotels, cigarette distributors, malls, banks, insurers and cellphone providers, to name a few. Yatsenyuk estimated that the sanctions could cost the faltering economy up to $7 billion this year, and it will need Western aid and trade with European markets to survive. “We simply have no other choice,” he said of the decision to impose sanctions. “Ukraine is going to search the globe for the property of those who supported the annexation of Crimea.” Though the consequences were not immediately clear, they are expected to be far-reaching......
Posted on: Sat, 09 Aug 2014 07:53:34 +0000
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