Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree extending retaliatory sanctions until December 31, 2021. Counter-sanctions, or food embargoes, were introduced in 2014 against the EU, Norway, Switzerland, USA, Australia and Canada. The 2014 counter-sanctions were introduced in response to restrictive measures imposed on Russia by Western countries after Crimea became part of the Russian Federation. Counter-sanctions include a ban on the import of a number of food and agricultural products into the country. Counter-sanctions are extended annually by the Russian authorities.
In March 2014, due to the situation in Ukraine, the European Union and a number of countries, including the USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, Switzerland, New Zealand, Iceland, began to impose sanctions on Russia. In particular, sanctions lists of Russian individuals and legal entities have appeared. Restrictive measures included a ban on entry, freezing of accounts. In addition, the so-called sectoral sanctions were introduced: the assets of the companies falling under them were not frozen, but restrictions were imposed on medium and long-term lending.
Author: Anna Dorozhkina