The US has issued a sanctions blacklist against Russia which includes oil company Rosneft and lender Gazprombank.
In a statement, the US Department of the Treasury said: “In response to Russia’s continued attempts to destabilize eastern Ukraine and its ongoing occupation of Crimea, the US Department of the Treasury today imposed a broad-based package of sanctions on entities in the financial services, energy, and arms or related material sectors of Russia, and on those undermining Ukraine’s sovereignty or misappropriating Ukrainian property.”
David S. Cohen, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence added: “Because Russia has failed to meet the basic standards of international conduct, we are acting today to open Russia’s financial services and energy sectors to sanctions and limit the access of two key Russian banks and two key energy firms to US sources of financing, and to impose blocking sanctions against eight arms firms and a set of senior Russian officials.”
State-owned financial institution VEB and natural gas producer OAO Novatek are also on the list.
The Micex index fell on news of the sanctions, opening 2.7 per cent lower.
