Russian Prime Minister: Russia Faces the Most Difficult Time in 30 Years

On March 31th, local time, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said that Russia is facing the most difficult economic situation in 3 decades due to unprecedented Western sanctions. Mishustin pointed out in the Duma that the current sanctions had never been used even during the cold war. Since the West removed Russia from the SWIFT system, many traders refused to buy Russian oil products and other commodities, which greatly exacerbated the financial pressure of the Putin government.

Last month, the United States announced to ban the imports of Russian energy, energy products and Russian goods. On April 5, the EU Executive Committee proposed new sanctions on Russia, including banning the purchase of Russian coal and the import of Russian ships into EU ports.

At the same time, it is working to ban import of Russian oil.Many international enterprises have suspended their business in Russia, stopped shipping to Russia and withdrewing their capital as much as possible. In order to retaliate against western economic sanctions, the Moscow authorities announced that the foreign investors who decided to withdraw from Russia will not be able to sell their industrial and financial assets. The Kremlin even hinted that they might nationalize the assets of evacuated Western investors.