Powerful Western sanctions against the russian Rosatom are only a matter of time. Today, our partners are held back by the dependence of a number of countries on the russian monopolist. However, Ukraine proved by its example that getting rid of such dependence is quite real. Deputy Minister of Economy Oleksii Sobolev told about this on the air of the National Telethon.

The Office of the President, the Ministry of Economy and other relevant ministries and agencies at different levels are making efforts to make the sanctions introduced by our partners as painful as possible for the aggressor state. In particular, during the foreign visits of First Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister of Economy of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko, who also heads the Interdepartmental Working Group on the implementation of sanctions policy, one of the issues necessarily raised during meetings is strengthening sanctions pressure on russia.

As Oleksii Sobolev said on the air, one of the priority issues of the sanctions policy, on which Ukraine is working with partners, is the introduction of sanctions against the russian nuclear industry. Significant progress has been achieved in this regard. 

“Recently, a number of countries from the G7, namely the UK, the USA, Canada, Japan and France announced their intentions to oust russia from the international nuclear energy market. This is very important, as these countries will be able to offer countries that are currently dependent on russian nuclear energy an alternative. Of course, you cannot simply take and replace Rosatom with another fuel supplier. This is a complex technological process. But Ukraine proves that it is possible: we have introduced sanctions against Rosatom and are switching to fuel from Western suppliers,” Oleksii Sobolev noted.

According to the Deputy Minister of Economy, Ukraine also insists on the introduction of sanctions against russian diamonds by the European Union. This source of export revenues brought the aggressor state USD 4-4.5 billion annually before the invasion. 

Also, the issue of reducing the price cap on crude oil and petroleum products is constantly in the focus of Ukraine’s attention. As Oleksii Sobolev emphasized, the introduction of this tool by the sanctions coalition hurt Russia’s oil and gas revenues. If last year oil and gas exports by russia amounted to USD 349 billion, this year, according to experts’ forecasts, russia will receive about USD 173 billion from these exports.

“But even this is not enough for Ukraine, and we are seeking that the price cap be reduced from USD 60 per barrel to USD 45 or even USD 30 in order to cut these revenues for russia’s war even more,” Oleksiy Sobolev noted.

Finally, according to the Deputy Minister of Economy, the key issue remains countering the circumvention of sanctions. As Oleksii Sobolev noted, there are countries that want to make money from trade with a terrorist state. And there are also those who want to make money, including from trade in sanctioned goods. Therefore, Ukraine actively cooperates with its partners to jointly counter such trade. 

“The position of the world and Ukraine is clear: you will not be able to earn. We have a plan to prevent this. So, whether or not such countries want to join the sanctions coalition, russia will be isolated,” Oleksii Sobolev said.

According to the Deputy Minister of Economy, Ukraine and its partners act both through diplomatic methods and through the introduction of secondary sanctions. In particular, for example, over the past year, the U.S. Department of the Treasury has imposed sanctions on more than 100 individuals and legal entities engaged in activities aimed at circumventing international sanctions and export controls introduced against russia.

As Oleksii Sobolev emphasized, all the priority areas of the sanctions policy are reflected in the new plan of the Yermak-McFaul Group Action Plan 2.0 and will be implemented.